


Voyager Andromeda: Proving Ground

by sueKay04



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M, Gen, Virtual Season/Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-11-03
Updated: 2008-11-03
Packaged: 2017-12-31 22:17:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 27,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1037014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sueKay04/pseuds/sueKay04
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As a Q tries to save the Milky Way, can a long lost friend get Voyager home?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set 2 and a half years after the events of Christie Golden's 'Spirit Walk' books, and is about Voyager's third mission after getting home.
> 
> I know that in Jeri Taylor's novel, Mosaic, Phoebe Janeway is very close in age to Kathryn, but I have decidedly to markedly increase the age gap between the Janeway sisters for this story.
> 
> I have taken one element from the recent Voyager (and Next Gen) books for this story, but that's where the similarities end. This story does not follow Kirsten Beyer's books.
> 
> Finally, Janeway fans - don't despair!!

The Shuttlecraft Azure maneuvered effortlessly above the city of San Francisco on a crisp winter's morning.

"This is Shuttlecraft Azure requesting permission to land on the parade grounds," Lt. Commander Harry Kim said as he opened communications with Starfleet Headquarters.

" _Shuttlecraft Azure. This is Sol Plaza Control. You are cleared to land in Quadrant C."_

"Thank you Control."

As Harry turned the shuttlecraft towards the Golden Gate Bridge, Captain Chakotay gazed out of the window. No matter how many times he looked out at a starscape, he still though there was no more impressive sight than a city from a few thousand feet. He looked into the distance, spying the spires of Contemporary City. Chakotay grinned a little at the irony of the name.

Following the Great Wars that marred the end of the 20th and the middle of the 21st Centuries, massive swathes of Earth's great cities had fallen into disrepair and dilapidation. After Zephram Cochrane's historic flight in the Phoenix, Earth had began to recover. Contemporary City was one of the huge urban developments of the 2180s. The people so ravaged by war, and so fearful of the future, seemed to live in the moment – Hence the name of Contemporary City.

"Memories sir?" Harry interrupted Chakotay's thoughts.

"Just an old history lesson Harry," He smiled in return.

The Azure continued it's descent, making a textbook landing on the Plaza.

* * *

"Looking forward to being back on Voyager?" Lt. Commander Tom Paris smiled at his wife.

"I'm a bit apprehensive about it I must admit," B'Elanna Torres said quietly.

Sensing her husband's surprise, she elaborated, "It's just that the last time I was on that ship, I was a member of the crew. Now I'll just be a passenger…And it just won't be the same Voyager anymore…I'd prefer to keep the memory of  _my_  Voyager alive."

"B'Elanna honey. It's the same ship. She looks virtually identical to the way she did before…It's mostly the same crew too."

"Mostly…" B'Elanna's thoughts led her back to that dark day six months earlier when they'd gotten the devastating news…

"Kathryn Janeway wouldn't have wanted you to avoid Voyager like the plague, and don't you want Miral to see where Mommy and Daddy met, and where she nearly grew up?"

B'Elanna's eyes travelled over to where her little  _Kuvah'magh_ sat scribbling in her colouring book. It hardly seemed three years since little Miral Paris had been born, and it hardly seemed three years since Voyager had returned home. B'Elanna's gaze lingered on her daughter a moment longer, before she looked back at her husband.

"Besides, how else are you going to get to  _Qo'noS_!" Tom smiled.

"Guess there's no getting out of it this time huh?"

* * *

Lieutenant Commander Selar looked down from the Promenade at Starfleet Academy with interest as she watched a highly respected group of officers exchange easy banter as they walked through the Japanese gardens. She knew all these men, though they did not exactly know her.

Selar looked at the Vulcan, Commander Tuvok. Tuvok had become a much respected lecturer during his second tenure at Starfleet Academy . He now headed a specialist faculty on campus – Delta Quadrant studies. Tuvok taught a variety of courses, and was allowed full control over all but one subject area – the Borg. Starfleet's finest tacticians still got to get their hands dirty with that course. The most popular courses not surprisingly were the anthropological courses, especially those concerned with the Ocampa, the Talaxians, the Hirogen and the Voth. Several former Voyager crew members who had preferred to stay on Earth rather than rejoin the recommissioned ship formed Tuvok's teaching staff.

The Vulcan's eyes now focused on Fleet Admiral Owen Paris, and she mused about the closeness of this group's friendships. It was rare for the Fleet Admiral to be seen out on the grounds of the Academy, unless of course, his grandchildren were visiting. Lt. Commander Tom Paris didn't bear much of a resemblance to his father, but anyone could tell they were related by watching their body language. Both men shared the same smile, and the once talked about strained relationship between father and son seemed to have evaporated entirely since Voyager's return. Tom Paris was one of Starfleet's finest, shining brightly in the thinly veiled propaganda of Federation 'do-gooding' – the renegade turned fine officer and devoted family man. It wasn't Tom's fault that the media had picked him out of all the Voyagers to be paraded on the Subspace Entertainment Network. The young man had done well for himself since Voyager's return, as he was now First Officer of the Intrepid Class vessel.

Harry Kim's laugh caught Selar's attention, and now she focused on him. Lt. Commander Kim was also held up by the Federation as an example of how to live your life. Young, bright Harry had a remarkable career and had easily flown through the ranks since getting back to Earth. Initially he'd be reassigned to Voyager as Chief of Security before accepting an ambassadorial assignment to Romulus – a particularly trying job after the near destruction of the Enterprise E at the hands of the Remans. Now back onboard Voyager, Harry had returned to his previous post as Chief of Operations. While the post held less prestige, it was nonetheless vital for the running of the ship.

Finally, Selar's gaze rested on the enigmatic Captain Chakotay. Starfleet academic, turned freedom-fighter, turned model commanding officer, he was a man of contradictions. Like most other Voyagers, Chakotay had been very fortunate in life since returning from the Delta Quadrant. He'd been pardoned for his actions with the Maquis, been reinstated as a Lt. Commander, before being promoted straight to Captain and being given command of Voyager. Selar smiled to herself as she watched the reserved man chat quietly with Tom Paris. He certainly was a 'contrary'. Selar realised her absent protégé, Qatala, had been lucky to have him as a confidante in years gone past.

The little group of officers continued on their walk, and out of sight of Selar's viewpoint. She could easily continue to watch them, but decided against it. She turned back to walk along the promenade, tugging at her black-grey uniform. She had never liked this Vulcan form much, and could think of far nicer humanoid species she could have picked, but Vulcans seemed so full of intrigue it was too hard to resist. Selar's people were timeless, and spent a portion of their 'lives' pretending to be others, often jumping back into a 'character' thousands of years after last being them. It had been 450 years since Selar had been assigned to the Enterprise D, though in this world, merely 20 had passed.

* * *

"Are you looking forward to your third tour Captain?" Owen Paris asked Chakotay as he, Tuvok, Tom Paris and Harry walked through the gardens. With Tom, Tuvok and Harry discussing Tuvok's course at the academy, Chakotay turned to the Admiral.

"To be honest, I'm a little bit apprehensive this time around. With so many key personnel changes, and with Dr. Kaz taking a leave of absence on Loran II, well...it'll be strange."

"You're picking up new officers at Deep Space Nine," Owen reminded him.

"True, but it seems nicer seeing familiar faces on the bridge every day. We're hopefully going to be picking up our new Conn officer, Lieutenant Kerry McCabe at DS9, and Dr. Julian Bashir seems eager to join the crew, even for a short period of time."

"That still leaves your short a Science Officer and a Security Chief."

Chakotay smiled. "Actually, the position of Security Chief has been filled by Lieutenant Campbell. She's tough, she's smart, and I think when she realised Commander Kim was happy to go back to Ops, she jumped at the chance."

Owen chuckled at the mention of Lyssa Campbell. The savvy officer made friends wherever she went, but she was no fool. Admiral Paris approved of Chakotay's decision to give her the position.

"Any civilian passengers?"

"Four. Sekaya will remain onboard as normal, and she's looking forward to going back to Loran II. We've also got Phoebe Janeway onboard..."

Paris looked concerned at that piece of news.

"I know what you're going to ask – 'What exactly is Phoebe Janeway up to?' As usual, I don't have an answer for you, but I think she'll be bored by the time we get to Deep Space Nine..."

"...And disembark and go gallivanting...I love that girl to pieces, but she drives me up the wall." Owen smirked knowingly.

"I could hardly say no to her Sir."

"I wouldn't expect you to Chakotay, especially given everything that's happened."

A silence stretched thinly through the bustle of the Promenade, and Chakotay felt his thoughts travel back to a darker place. Feeling the cold seep in to his bones, he continued the conversation.

"And as you know already, we're transporting B'Elanna and Miral to  _Qo'noS_."

"Ah yes...Our little  _Kuvah'magh_ has warriors to bless."

Tom overheard the conversation and joined his father and his Captain, leaving Tuvok and Harry to their discussion about Talaxian cuisine.

"Who would have thought that my daughter would have completely changed the Klingon's religious beliefs. And that they'd declare her and B'Elanna to be Warrior Goddesses and build a temple in their honour."

It really did beggar belief, Chakotay mused. In fact, he could think of no other story as preposterous but true. Oddly, following her time on Boreth, B'Elanna had embraced Klingon beliefs far more than anyone had anticipated. Tom had originally joked that Boreth would sicken B'Elanna entirely. But on discovering and proving that Miral was in fact the  _Kuvah'magh_ , she'd been eager to promote the fact. As a result, the house of L'Naan had grown strong, and B'Elanna and Miral had become celebrities on  _Qo'noS_.

Owen smiled at his son, before continuing on with the matter at hand. "Any Cadets onboard Captain?"

"Just one – Naomi Wildman. She'll be with us for the first three months of the tour for her second year placement."

"Naomi's already at the Academy?" said a surprised Harry. "She's only eight!"

"Ktarian children age increasingly rapidly, both physically and mentally until they reach adulthood. Ktarian childhoods are typically six 6 years. Were she fully Ktarian, she would already be an adult." Tuvok provided an answer.

"A teenage Naomi Wildman  _working_  on Voyager? Kind of scary if you ask me!" Smirked Tom.

* * *

" _I'm sure working on Voyager's second deep space mission will be an exciting opportunity!"_ Dr. Julian Bashir chirped enthusiastically over subspace to Dr. Jarem Kaz.

"The Beta Quadrant is sure to be a challenge Julian, one I am sure you will relish."

" _Being on Deep Space Nine in the first years of Gamma Quadrant exploration were certainly difficult, but work here's become routine...I'm itching to encounter new species and new situations...But I will admit that I'll miss being on the station during my tour on Voyager."_

"You mean you'll miss that beautiful wife of yours." Kaz stated with a knowing grin.

Kaz and Dax had never been close friends, thought the two symbionts had encountered each other several times during their lifetimes. Kaz had always admired the sheer vibrancy of life that emanated from Dax, no matter who her host was. Ezri had brought a slight vulnerability to Dax that was both appealing and disarming. Dr. Bashir and Lt. Commander Dax had been married for a little under two years, and by all accounts were more in love than ever.

" _That I will...but she knows I've been wanting to actively serve on a Starship for some time now. This six month assignment on Voyager is a dream to me, and it represents the best of both worlds as I get to go home to my wife after the first leg of the journey's over."_

"And I know what you're thinking. How can I leave Voyager, even temporarily?"

Bashir chuckled, " _Actually that has crossed my mind, but I understand Voyager went through quite an ordeal at Loran II while making some friends."_

"I take it you know about that mission." Jarem Kaz sighed.

Bashir nodded wordlessly.

"We've been able to correct some of Crell Moset's...'work', but some of the colonists still resemble animals...They still have some amazing abilities, but have little restraint and it's causing some problems. I want to help them."

" _I can understand that, but six months on a colonial world's quite the commitment!"_

Jarem glanced at his chronometer, noting that Voyager was going to be ready to depart Earth Station McKinley within the hour.

"Well Julian, it's been a pleasure to talk to you again after all these years...I'll forward some notes to you about our sickbay before I disembark, and Voyager will see you at Deep Space Nine in about two weeks." Jarem smiled.

" _I look forward to it!"_ Julian grinned back.

* * *

Lieutenant Lyssa Campbell still felt odd being a bridge officer, even three years after being assigned there. Seven years as Transporter Chief on a starship would do that to any officer. Right now she sat at the conn, while a few department heads made last-minute checks at some of the bridge's secondary control stations. Within a few minutes the rest of senior bridge crew would arrive, and Voyager would depart the legendary McKinley dock once more. As if reading her thoughts, Captain Chakotay, Lt. Commander Paris, Lt. Commander Kim and B'Elanna Torres arrived on the bridge. Tom had Miral on his shoulders, and the toddler clearly relished being on the ship, looking round at everything with wide-eyed enthusiasm. B'Elanna seemed quite subdued, and Lyssa realised that this was B'Elanna's first time back on Voyager since they'd returned home.

"Captain on the deck!" Lyssa said sharply, standing up with a smile on her face as the bridge crew stood to attention.

"At ease." Chakotay grinned as the crew moved to take their stations.

Tom made his way down to the conn, openly relishing the chance to pilot the ship once more. As much as Tom enjoyed being the ship's first officer, he missed piloting, still taking the original Delta Flyer out as often as Chakotay allowed. He watched with bemusement as Harry and Lyssa both headed to the wrong stations, before Lyssa headed to tactical and Harry made his way to ops.

B'Elanna sat in the first officer's chair, trying to quieten Miral who was threatening to become boisterous at any moment.

The turbolift doors opened again, and this time Ensigns Tal Celes and Billy Telfer appeared, followed by Sekaya and Phoebe Janeway.

Celes took her seat at Engineering, while Billy took the Science station on the other side of the bridge. Sekaya sat next to Chakotay, giving her big brother a cheeky grin. Phoebe for her part seemed a little lost, before settling down next to Sekaya. Tom noted that the much loved 'Black Sheep' of the Janeway family had purple streaks in her strawberry blonde hair. The last time Tom had seen Phoebe she'd been sporting neon pink hair, and Tom noticed Chakotay's relief that her current hairstyle wasn't quite as outlandish for her stay on Voyager.

"Commander Vorik reports that we're ready to go Sir," said Celes from her station.

Chakotay nodded at the young Bajoran. While still shy and nervous, her strengths as an engineer and a stellar cartographer had come to the fore during her last years on Voyager.

Chakotay then turned to Campbell, "Lyssa, are we good to go?"

"Yes sir."

"Harry?"

"Yes sir."

"Tom"

"As always sir," Tom grinned at his Captain, eager to get moving.

Chakotay smiled, and took one last look at his bridge crew.

"Captain Chakotay to all hands. We'll be leaving Earth Station McKinley momentarily. Please secure your stations."

After a moment, he looked to Harry. "Put me through to McKinley."

"Yes sir."

"Earth Station McKinley, this is Voyager. Requesting permission to leave Spacedock."

The voice of Owen Paris beamed back through the intercom.

"Voyager, this is Earth Station McKinley. Permission to leave Spacedock granted. And Godspeed."

Tom smiled at hearing his dad, and he noticed the wide grin in Miral's face as she heard her Papa's voice. He looked over to Chakotay, who grinned at him.

"Commander Paris, take us out." 


	2. Chapter 2

Qenayu breathed a sigh of relief as she looked at her reflection. Selar's short cropped Vulcan hair was gone as were those pointed ears and the sickly green tinge on her skin. Instead Qenayu had retaken her human form for her return to the Continuum. The human form was simple, but with Q's meddling with the Enterprise, Deep Space Nine and Voyager, and with Voyager's role in the Continuum's Civil War, the human form had become a favourite of the Q, in a novel sort of way. Following the human representation of the Continuum that Q had provided for the Voyager crew, the Q Continuum had also grown accustomed to molding their home to similar representations. In their post-civil war years, the Q had become peace lovers and had literally become hippies. So rather than her usual Starfleet Captain's uniform, Qenayu wore a tie dyed t-shirt, flared jeans, rose-tinted glasses and a headband. The other Qs were dressed in similar attire, and Qenayu smiled as she heard music begin to play. Her mood changed however, when she saw her son through the crowd.

"Quinn!" She yelled at the unruly teenager.

"What?" He replied.

"Take that out of your mouth!" Qenayu indicated Quinn's cigarette.

"It's just a cigarette...not even marijuana! Like it'd even hurt me anyway. The whole immortality thing kind of gets in the way in that regard."

"I will not have my son condone the idiocy of mere mortals!" Qenayu snapped her fingers and Quinn's cigarette vanished.

"Hey!" he moaned in protest and walked off yelling, "I'm telling dad!"

Qenayu rolled her eyes, and not for the first time, she debated her ex-husband's decision to name their son, the second Q child, after the visionary Quinn.

Through the throng, Qenayu spied Qatala, who was definitely not joining in the party. Qatala stood at the edge of the field the Qs had created, and had consciously made the effort to dress in 24th Century human garb. She gazed off into the distance, looking far from happy and peaceful. Qenayu decided to join her. Her short encounter with Quinn had ruined her otherwise happy mood.

"A Latinum strip for your thoughts?" Qenayu asked.

"I don't think you'd want my thoughts." Qatala responded with an icy edge in her voice.

"Are you not even wanting to join in the party to celebrate the end of the war?"

Qatala looked away from Qenayu, trying to conceal her emotions, but Qenayu recognized her anger, even if she couldn't see Qatala's face.

"I played only a small part in this war, and it ended years ago..."

"And the party's scheduled to last 100,000 years! So enjoy."

"All the other parties I've ever been to have never usually lasted longer than one night. And that includes all the parties I went to when I was at the Academy!"

"I thought you'd enjoy the longevity of our parties...Being omnipotent means we aren't constrained by time. We don't need to sober up so we can make a staff meeting the next morning!"

Qatala turned further away from Qenayu, and whispered, barely audibly, "I never wanted omnipotence."

Qenayu felt a pang of guilt at this statement, before pushing it away. Qenayu had nothing to apologise for. Without her, Qatala would literally be nothing.

"You're not the only one here who feels that way...If you'd like, I can contact Amanda Rogers...She's visiting some friends on Earth...you could talk to her."

"Amanda was born to this life, whether she was raised on Earth or not. I was born to-"

"-a mortal existence...Yes I know."

Qatala did not feel the need to continue the conversation, but Qenayu did.

"Don't you feel grateful for this chance to continue to exist? Without me you'd be dead. And while in the corporeal sense you are indeed, still dead, at least your consciousness lives on. It may not be perfect, I admit, but Q-ness is better than...deadness."

Qatala grew angry. Her stance stiffened, and she sucked in her cheeks as though physically holding back what she wanted to say.

"Oh, that's right. You hate me for saving your soul. I should have let you die." Qenayu knew that would rattle her.

"No. You should have saved Ensign Monroe! She was 24...Her life was just beginning, and you picked me instead of her."

"To a Q, you were both mere children, and I should have let you both die. I broke countless rules of the New Law to bring you here because I felt your purpose in life was yet to be fulfilled."

"That was very big of you."

"Qatala..."

"Don't call me that! That's not my name!"

"You're a Q now. You will have a Q name. The New Law states..."

"To hell with the New Law! The only thing you can do to me for breaking it is banish me to a corporeal existence, and your punishment for bringing me here was that I could never return home! So I'll go by the name I've always had."

Qenayu grimaced. Dealing with new Qs was never easy. It had been her intent to bring Qatala here to indoctrinate her in the ways of the Q. To grant her the gifts the Q had to offer.

Instead, Qatala had grown bitter and hostile. She'd been a Q for six months since her 'death' in a firefight in Federation sector 005. Each day since then, Qenayu had become painfully aware that Qatala would never fit in. She was too stubborn. But the Continuum had forbidden her from returning to the Milky Way via Q means. Qatala could return to corporeal form in any galaxy except one from the Milky Way, as long as it wasn't a galaxy the Q frequented.

Basically that meant that Qatala could go to only a handful of galaxies, and she'd be stranded on her own, with no friends, human or Q.

Of course, Qenayu had kept this information to herself as she had a feeling that Qatala would prefer a solitary, mortal existence to being in the Continuum. Right now however, it had become apparent to her that she and the former human had reached a crossroads, and things could not continue as they had been.

"You really don't want to be here, do you?" Qenayu said in resignation.

"Oh, you finally understand me," Qatala said with sarcasm.

"No. I never will understand _why_ you won't embrace being a Q, but I know you never will."

"So what are you going to do?" said Qatala, exasperation creeping into her voice. "I can't go back home...Where else can I go besides here?"

"You can return to your corporeal form, and your former identity, but only in a select number of galaxies. One of these is close to your home galaxy, but you'll know yourself...getting home from such a great distance is impossible. The Q would not be able to help you. You'd be entirely on your own."

For the first time in their conversation, Qatala's eyes met Qenayu's.

"But I could be me again..."

Qenayu nodded solemnly. "I've been thinking of this solution as I watched you become more and more miserable here. The galaxy I'm thinking of is hostile. There are few species there that are humanoid, and the Q are forbidden from going there. You would be cut loose, and cut off."

Sensing Qatala's confusion, Qenayu elaborated.

"They cannot physically stop us from going there, but there are powerful species there, and their abilities rival our own. We wish to avoid a confrontation."

Qatala nodded. "However..."

"However, we are concerned about a situation that has arisen in this galaxy in recent years. It is something that will likely affect your home galaxy in the future."

"And by going there, you're thinking I could perhaps make a difference? Somehow stop what's happening? Get information home?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, dearie...You could perhaps make a small difference, but not turn the tide. You would after all, be just human again. But I know you'd endeavour to do your best."

Qenayu smiled at Qatala. "And it'd also give me personally, a reason to keep an eye on this galaxy...I'd simply be watching out for one our own, and if I just happened to gain some beneficial information and pass it on to Starfleet, well..."

"There isn't much the Q, or your enemies, could do to stop you, is there?"

Qenayu grinned. "So we understand each other?"

"Yes, we do."

Qatala looked contemplative for a moment. "So what's the next step?"

"You can leave right now. I'd put you in as safe an area as I can, and I'd give you a weapon and some supplies. Upon arriving in this galaxy, you will automatically be familiar with it...The information will be given to you as you leave the continuum. However, you will arrive in this galaxy six months in the past - at the moment in time that you died, meaning that no time will have passed in the corporeal world."

"I understand." Qatala nodded.

"Well?"

"Well what?" Qatala seemed puzzled.

"Are you ready?"

"You Qs...You're certainly a spontaneous lot!" Qatala smirked.

Again she grew quiet, drawing a deep breath. Her brow became furrowed, and worry seemed to engulf her for all of a split second. A moment later, Qatala smiled, having seemingly collected herself, filing away her fears for future reference.

"Well then, I guess there's no time like the present!"

"I know you'll worry about the people you've left behind...You have my word, I'll look out for them."

"That means a lot to me."

Qenayu regarded Qatala for a moment, hoping she'd made the right choice for her protégé, before clicking her fingers and transporting Qatala away to her fate...

* * *

Sekaya looked around her office, sighing inwardly. It was exactly the same as Tom's office, as well as Lyssa Campbell's, and she never felt quite at ease in it. Nonetheless, this was the most appropriate setting for the interviews she'd be holding with the new members of the Voyager crew. There were eleven new crew members on the small ship, and while Astall was better suited to dealing with the crew's emotional problems, she and Sekaya had agreed that the Spiritual Advisor was better at dealing with formalities like this. So far she'd interviewed six of the new personnel. While some seemed interested in her work, the Bolian Lieutenant Belmeth had been rather rude. It was always disheartening to encounter someone who had no respect for Sekaya's profession.

Sekaya had no idea who was coming to her office next. She liked to get to know the crew without having their profiles at hand. That way she could avoid having preconceived notions. Her next appointment was at 18:00 hours.

Sekaya jumped slightly, as her door chimed right on the hour.

"Come in."

A Vulcan woman strode in, stopping in the middle of the room.

"Hello. I'm Sekaya. I'm Voyager's spiritual advisor, and I'll be conducting a routine interview with you now that you're a member of the crew. Our ship's Counselor, Lieutenant Astall will follow this up with your evaluation in three months time."

The Vulcan woman nodded. "What would you like me to do, Advisor?"

"Sitting down would be helpful." Sekaya smiled from her seat on the sofa.

"Very well." The Vulcan raised an eyebrow, before complying with the request.

"So...tell me about yourself. What's your name, why did you decide to apply for this assignment?"

"My name is Selar. I hold the rank of Lieutenant Commander and I have been in Starfleet for thirty-five years."

"And what do you specialize in?"

"I trained as a medical doctor at the Vulcan Institute of Medicine, before specializing in genetic immunology."

_A super-smart Vulcan. Great._

Sekaya mentally kicked herself for that thought.

"That must be rewarding work."

"Rewarding would be an accurate evaluation of my work, Advisor."

If Sekaya didn't know better, she reckoned that was an attempt at Vulcan humour.

"So what were your assignments prior to Voyager?"

"I served at Starfleet medical on several research boards and the Medical Council before serving onboard the Enterprise-D. Following that, I served as Chief Medical Officer on the Excalibur."

Sekaya was impressed. "That's quite a resume!"

The Vulcan gave no reaction, merely staring at Sekaya.

"Why did you want this assignment, Selar?"

"My work on the Excalibur was fulfilling, however, it left little time for any research I wished to undertake. I have signed on as part of Voyager's medical team, but not as chief Medic in order to allow myself time to be a fully functioning member of Voyager's scientific staff. The Beta Quadrant should also prove to be a stimulating challenge."

"Well I hope so! I hope you make many discoveries while on Voyager, Commander. Your line of work is very important to us all."

With their chat over, Selar stood up, nodding to Sekaya.

"It's been nice talking with you, Commander. Don't be a stranger if you have any queries."

"I will keep that offer in mind, Advisor." Selar said, turning and leaving Sekaya's office.

When she was gone, Sekaya grinned. She had a hunch she'd be seeing more of Lt. Commander Selar.


	3. Chapter 3

"Captain's log, stardate 57946.3. Voyager will soon be in orbit around Loran II, a planet that holds vivid memories for several members of the crew. We will be parting company with our Chief Medical Officer, Jarem Kaz at Loran II following his request for an extended leave of absence. I have granted his request to allow him to continue to aid in the rehabilitation of the settlers that Crell Moset experimented on. Dr. Kaz also wishes to undergo the Trill right of  _Zhian'tara_ , something he should have done years ago but was unable to do while serving on Voyager. We will pick up our acting Chief of Medicine, Julian Bashir, at Deep Space Nine. Our new deputy MD, Dr. Selar will be responsible for sickbay until Dr. Bashir comes aboard."

Chakotay never liked keeping an official log, feeling that he was monologuing like a bad guy in one of Tom Paris' holodeck programs. But keeping a log was standard procedure, thus he had to follow protocol. Chakotay far preferred writing in his journal, which he kept safe in the drawer of Kathryn's desk.

Kathryn's desk.

Feeling his spirits sink, Chakotay chided himself. Three years after being given command of Voyager, Chakotay still thought of the ready room as Kathryn's domain. Even now that she wasn't here, months after her memorial service, Chakotay spent the bare minimum of time in the ready room, preferring the Captain's office. The office was a room Kathryn had barely used during their journey home.

Chakotay was shaken from his thoughts by the chime of the door.

"Come in."

The doors swished open to allow Phoebe Janeway in. Anyone who did not know the Janeway sisters personally would never have guessed that they were related. At first glance, the only things they had in common were their heights (or lack thereof), their red hair, and a disarmingly fragile elegance.

Phoebe was a free spirit, set apart from her family. While her father and sister had both been admirals, and her mother a mathematician, Phoebe had never been gifted in the sciences. Instead her interests were in the arts. Even then, she lacked the high drive of the Janeways, never really applying herself to anything for an extended length of time.

"Hi,"she said simply before continuing, "I'm not disturbing you, am I?"

"Not at all." Chakotay smiled at her.

Relaxing a little, Phoebe smiled in return before Chakotay motioned towards the couch. The young woman diligently sat down.

That had been another thing that had surprised Chakotay. He'd always held the assumption that Phoebe was only a little younger than Kathryn. Instead, there was almost a twenty year age gap. Kathryn had always insisted that she and Phoebe were very similar, and despite their marked differences, Chakotay had to agree.

"Coffee?"

Phoebe flashed an all-too familiar grin at Chakotay. "Of course!"

Chakotay ordered a black coffee for Phoebe and an iced tea for himself before joining her on the couch.

"So what can I do for you, Phoebe?" Chakotay knew getting a straight answer from her was never easy.

"Uhm...I just wanted to thank you for letting me come onboard. I know you didn't have to, and I know that people like me can be a nuisance on a starship. Goodness knows Kathryn said she could have strangled me when I visited her on the Billings because of what I did to the...That's beside the point though..."

Chakotay glanced with bemusement at Phoebe. Kathryn had told him all about the incident her little sister had caused when she decided to tamper with the USS Billings's sonic showers.

Sensing that Chakotay knew what she was talking about, Phoebe tried to move the conversation along.

"Anyway...I won't be onboard for long...I know this crew thrives on deep space exploration, and while I like to travel, I'd rather not go too far from sector one."

"So where will you be leaving us then?"

"Deep Space Nine. Part of me desperately wants to go to  _Qo'noS_ , but common sense won out for once! So hopefully, I'll be spending some time on Bajor instead."

Chakotay didn't buy her story.

"Phoebe, why are you really here?"

Chakotay and Phoebe had developed an oddly paternal relationship since they'd first met, and Chakotay could read her like a book. Phoebe had been a child when Edward Janeway had died, and he had guessed that she'd missed a fatherly presence in her life. Gretchen Janeway had never remarried. Chakotay thought that Phoebe had seen in him what Kathryn had first seen – a confidante. But where attraction, and dare he admit it, even now, love had followed that initial trust between he and Kathryn, Phoebe had instead, and perhaps subconsciously, made Chakotay into a father figure in her life.

Phoebe seemed intent on examining every molecule of her coffee, refusing to look at him.

"Katie..."she started, reverting back to Kathryn's pet name, "Katie spent most of the last decade of her life on Voyager, and although all of you have told me a lot about this journey...This ship changed my sister so much...I'm hoping that even spending a few weeks on Voyager will give me some insight into her life here, and how it changed her."

"I had a feeling that was why you were here." Chakotay smiled sadly at her.

The door chimed again.

"Come in."

Sekaya walked into the ready room. "That's all the briefings complete."

"Anything of interest to report?"

"Not much. The usual...Dr. Selar seems very interesting...She even tried some Vulcan humour on me."

"That'll please Vorik, I'm sure." Chakotay grinned. Lt. Commander Vorik was straight-laced, even for a Vulcan, and had always appeared to cringe whenever Tuvok used his unique brand of sarcasm. Chakotay hadn't even thought Vulcans were capable of cringing.

Sekaya drew he brother a look reserved only for siblings, before asking quietly. "Was I interrupting something?"

"No, no, I was just telling your brother that you'll all be getting rid of me at Deep Space Nine." Phoebe stood up, smiling perhaps a little too much. "I'd better be going anyway...Chell is assigning me to my quarters...better not keep him waiting!"

Phoebe turned towards Chakotay. "Thank you for the coffee...And do you want me to call you sir or is Chakotay alright?"

Chakotay smiled. "Just call me Captain if we're someplace busy...other than that, Chakotay is fine."

Phoebe nodded, before turning and leaving the ready room.

Once she was gone, Sekaya leveled a faint scowl at her brother.

"What?"

"Men." she tutted in answer. Seeing Chakotay's puzzlement, she rolled her eyes, "Phoebe was clearly upset, no matter how much she tried to cover it up just now...Couldn't you just have dismissed me?"

"What good would that have done? It would just have made her feel awkward if she knew I was putting off getting your report until I was finished talking to her."

Sekaya conceded the point, handing over a PADD. "Fine...He's my report."

Chakotay reviewed its contents.

"Told you...nothing of interest."

"Belmeth seemed 'pompous'? Oh, I see a clash with Chell on the horizon."

Sekaya sighed. "Belmeth seemed awfully sure of himself, and showed no respect for my position on the ship. He called it 'Terran hocus-pocus'."

Chakotay knew through his own experiences that Bolians could be quite a handful. It had taken him a lot of patience to forge a friendship with his Bolian roommate when he'd been a senior at the Academy. Chert had certainly been very chipper. Golwatt and Chell, Voyager's resident Bolians were both very sedate for their species, and Chell in particular seemed to hate the behaviour of certain members of his species.

"The last thing we want is more conflict on this ship. We've had enough tension between the original Voyager crew and those who served during the Dominion war." Chakotay rubbed his forehead. Even one awkward crew member could cause a lot of problems on a ship.

"I'll keep an eye on him...Hopefully he just has an issue with me."

The beep of Tom's voice over the intercom interrupted their chat.

" _Captain, we'll be in orbit around Loran II momentarily."_

* * *

Loran II looked bleak from orbit, grey cloud and bare volcanic rock giving the planet a less than appealing colour. On the surface, however, the highly volcanic planet provided fertile soils, perfect for the agrarian French colonists that now called Loran II home.

"Pretty," Lyssa said from tactical, with a hint of sarcasm.

Tom loved having Lyssa Campbell on the bridge, but he missed getting to be first with a cheeky comment when she was about.

"It's nice on the surface." Harry defended the colonial world.

"We'll take your word for it, Harry," Tom smirked.

Chakotay and Sekaya emerged from the ready room and joined the bridge crew.

"Assume standard orbit, Tom. Harry, open hailing frequencies."

As Harry input the command, Kaz arrived on the bridge, hanging back near the tactical station.

Marius Fortier's face appeared on the viewscreen, and Chakotay noted that the man seemed to be a lot more content and happy compared to when they'd last met.

" _Captain Chakotay...It is a pleasure to welcome you and your crew back to our world,"_  The gentle man beamed proudly.

"It's a pleasure to be here," Chakotay returned, and it was.

The crew had felt so disheartened when they'd believed Loran II's population to have been wiped out, so it was nice to come back and see the leader of the colonists in good spirits.

" _Is that Dr. Kaz I see back there?"_  Marius inquired.

"It sure is," Chakotay turned to his Chief Medic, indicating for Kaz to join him on the command deck.

"I'd like to thank you for accepting my request, Marius."

" _Your thanks are not necessary...You've already done more for my people than we can ever repay. And now you're giving up more of your time to help us. We are very grateful."_

Kaz had the courtesy to blush at the praise.

"I'm afraid we're on a bit of a tight schedule, Marius. So we'll be leaving orbit in just a few minutes."

" _Of course. We'll have to have a good long chat when you return in six months. In the meantime if we need anything, we'll contact Deep Space Nine."_

Chakotay smiled at Marius as he signed off, and once again the stars of the Milky Way filled the viewscreen.

"All set, Jarem?" Chakotay turned to the Trill.

"All my belongings are in Transporter room 2."

Taking that as a cue, Harry reported, "Your belongings have been beamed down to the surface."

"Well, Jarem Kaz, it's been an honour having you onboard, and we look forward to your return," Chakotay extended a hand to his friend.

Kaz took it. "Yes, sir," Grinning, he nodded to Harry.

Kaz disappeared in the blue glow of the transporter beam.

"He's on the surface, sir."

Chakotay nodded. "Tom, set a course for Deep Space Nine."


	4. Chapter 4

B'Elanna stared blankly into space from her husband's quarters. Miral slept soundly in the next room. It seemed that being on Voyager was too much for the boisterous toddler. B'Elanna, however, was not so eager to sleep, wrapping her hands around her warm cup of Raktajino. She'd acquired a taste for the Klingon beverage during her stay on Boreth, and was as dependent on it as Janeway had been on black coffee. B'Elanna was looking forward to their stop at Deep Space Nine so she could get a real cup of the stuff. Kaga, the proprietor of Deep Space Nine's renowned Klingon restaurant was hailed as making the best Raktajino in the sector.

The doors to the quarters swished open, and Tom walked in.

"Hey," He smiled at his wife, who gave a small smile in return.

"We left Loran II about fifteen minutes ago."

"I know…I saw the planet from here…looked like a dirty dust ball."

"Does a bit, doesn't it," Tom looked around the room. "Where's Miral?"

"Sound asleep. Too much excitement, I think."

Tom smiled. Despite Tom having become Voyager's First Officer, Miral had only ever really been in a few Federation shuttles and runabouts. General Martok had gifted B'Elanna a Klingon transport so she could easily travel from Earth to the Empire. However, B'Elanna had let Chakotay take a look at the transport last month, and it hadn't worked quite right since…

Tom noticed his wife's subdued demeanour, and became a little worried. B'Elanna Torres was rarely a quiet person.

"B'Elanna honey…what's getting to you?"

Her shoulders hunched, and she let out a sigh. "Some of the crew – the new ones who joined Voyager when she was re-commissioned – they've been whispering while I'm around…I know I sound a little crazy but –"

"You're not crazy B'El…The original crew has had problems with the new crew too, especially the ones who fought in the Dominion War…Just remember, you're the First Officer's wife…you don't need to put up with any crap."

B'Elanna nodded.

"Any problems, let me, Chakotay, Harry, Lyssa or Sekaya know…We'll get it sorted."

"Okay," B'Elanna looked down at the ground. "It's just odd, you know…Voyager's first crew got over the differences between Starfleet and the Maquis so quickly…It seems ironic to have problems between Starfleet crew and Starfleet crew."

"It does, doesn't it?"

Voyager certainly hadn't had an easy time since being re-commissioned. Following the death of Andrew Ellis, Chakotay's first First Officer, at the hands of the Changeling, Chakotay had been accused by some of the newer crewmembers of murdering Ellis in order to get another former Maquis – Tom – on the ship. Furthermore, due to Chakotay being captured by Arak Katal and Crell Moset, some of them openly questioned his abilities as a leader. Both sets of accusations led to the premature end of Voyager's first mission and saw Chakotay being called up for an inquest into Ellis' death. With Kathryn Janeway's help, Chakotay had been cleared, and two Voyager crewmembers had been dismissed from Starfleet for making up such dangerous accusations.

Since then, tensions had apparently eased on Voyager, but there was still a little bit of hostility amongst the crew. Sekaya and Astall tried their best to make everyone get along, but this was far from a happy crew.

"They all think we had it easy, don't they?" B'Elanna said quietly.

"Maybe we did," Tom sighed, soberly.

The true horror of the Dominion War had not been realised immediately following the end of hostilities. The Federation had lost contact with a number of associate worlds, and while trying to re-establish contact, the Federation was shocked to discover that most of those worlds had been wiped out.

The death toll for the war now topped fifteen billion.

It was lucky that Earth's large population was an exception and not the rule with advanced worlds, or disturbingly, the death toll could have been much higher.

Owen Paris and Reg Barclay had kept most of the horrors of the Dominion War away from the Voyagers, so as not to depress the Intrepid crew even more. The destruction of those outlying worlds had become classified, so the crew seemed even further out of the Dominion loop than they had been to start with.

B'Elanna looked at her husband, seeing the silent admission in his eyes.

"Yeah...but they didn't deal with the Borg, Species 8472, the Hirogen, the Kazon, the Vidiians or all the others. They beat the Dominion, with the support of 150 other worlds."

"Still...these people lived through the bloodiest war this part of the galaxy has ever seen...Even now, they're haunted by it. And they resent us because we missed it. As well as that, they don't like the Maquis, because they turned out to be right about the Cardassians after all."

B'Elanna nodded, "I guess."

Sighing, Tom turned B'Elanna to face him, "How would you like to chill out in the Paxau resort?"

"I can't believe you've still got that program!" Torres said in bemused disbelief.

"I also still have Sandrine's, and Captain Proton...Can't seem to remember where I put Fair Haven, though..."

B'Elanna smirked, hitting Tom's arm playfully.

"I suppose I could do with a bit of relaxation...Think Sam Wildman would babysit?"

* * *

Harry relaxed in the First Officer's seat aboard Voyager. He never sat in the Captain's seat when he had the bridge. That wasn't considered to be the proper thing to do. Harry realised how spoiled he'd been by the Delta Quadrant – the Alpha Quadrant was a complete known. Until Voyager got beyond  _Qo'noS,_  there was nothing to explore. Until then, all the crew had was routine.

"Michael, I'd like you to run a routine diagnostic of the bioneural systems on deck 11. They were playing up prior to leaving spacedock."

Harry got no response from Ayala and turned to look at him.

"Hmm? Sorry Commander...I'll get started right away."

Harry smirked...his attention wandered on the bridge more often than he'd care to admit, so he wasn't going to give Michael Ayala a row for doing the same thing. Half expecting Lyssa Campbell to have a witty retort at hand, he turned to tactical. Instead, the Lieutenant's brow was furrowed, concentrating intensely on her work station.

Linda Chung, who was covering for Tom at the conn also noticed the lack of sarcasm from Lyssa and turned to Harry, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

"Lyssa?"

"I'm getting some strange readings here...Tetryon emissions...Are you getting them on your scans too, Michael?"

Ayala's console beeped. "Yes...but it's very strange...the particles appear to be in a state of decay? That doesn't make any sense at all," The console beeped again, "I've lost them, sir."

Harry looked back to Lyssa. "I'm not reading them anymore either, sir."

Billy Telfer who was sitting at the science console began working frantically. "I'll see if I can find a trace of them."

Harry sighed, a dozen theories about the particles crowding his mind. Tetryons rarely meant good news.

Lyssa's console beeped again, this time more urgently. "We're getting a distress signal, but that can't be right...it's an analogue signal, and it's emanating from Ronara Prime."

Harry knew of Ronara Prime – a classic frontier world that had been a hotbed of Maquis activity. It remained inhabited throughout the Dominion War, and was slowly beginning to stand on its own two feet. The Ronaran Prime minister, an elderly Kobliad woman, had spearheaded the Post-Demilitarization regeneration drive, helping set up the PDMZ council, and helping heal old wounds between the Federation and Cardassian colonies in The Zone.

So Harry had a very bad feeling about what they'd just found out.

"Billy...I want you to extrapolate how old that distress signal is, given it's analogue frequency and it's point of origin."

Billy nodded, before getting back to work

"Captain Chakotay and Commander Paris report to the Bridge...Lieutenant Chung, set a course for Ronara Prime."

"Uhm...Commander?" Billy didn't look at Harry. Instead he focused on his station. "According to my readings, that Analogue signal is over 900 years old."

"What?"

At that moment, Chakotay entered the bridge.

"Report."

"We picked up Tetryon emissions, and moments later we detected decayed Tetryon particles. Given how difficult they are to track, we lost them almost immediately. Then we picked up a distress call from Ronara Prime. We've altered course to investigate, but get this. The signal was analogue, and according to Telfer's information, it's been travelling through space for 900 years."

Tom arrived on the bridge, still dressed in a gaudy Hawaiian shirt from the holodeck.

As Harry relieved Ayala from Ops, Chakotay scratched his chin. "Even if the distress signal is coincidental to the Tetryon particles...Ronara Prime's not even been inhabited for fifty years."

"There's no doubt about it sir...That signal has been travelling through space unanswered for almost a millennium." Billy seemed to be as stumped as the rest of them.

"Could it be a galactic echo?" Tom asked as he took the conn.

"No sir...this thing's the genuine article."

"Tom, at our present speed, how long will it take us to get to Ronara Prime?"

"At warp four, it'll take eighteen hours. If we step on it and go to warp nine, we can be there in twenty minutes."

"I want to get there as quickly as we can Tom."

"Aye, sir."

* * *

"Captain, I'm picking up some really unusual readings here..." Harry said ominously as Voyager approached the planet.

"I'm detecting alpha, beta, delta, gamma and theta radiation...I'm also detecting temporal radiation, as well as tachyons and chroniton particles...There's also at least three types of radiation here that the computer can't identify."

"What the hell?" Chakotay was worried and perplexed.

"Captain, I've been able to unscramble the audio component of the distress call," said Billy.

"Let's hear it."

" _This is Prime Minister Tev Najada of the Federation Colony Ronara Prime. We are under attack from the Cardassian colony, Bryma. They are using weapons we've never seen before. They are poisoning our people. This attack is unprovoked...We are a peaceful colony and have not-"_

The message ended abruptly.

"Bryma? Was that not one of the colonies that capitulated, and joined forces with us, the Klingons and the Romulans?"

"Yes, sir, it was," said Lyssa.

"So why would they attack Ronara Prime? It's an economic power, not a military one," asked Harry.

"Here's hoping we find out," Chakotay said, concern and anger present in his voice.

"We've reached Ronara Prime," Tom stated, disengaging the warp engines.

"On screen."

As Ronara Prime appeared on the viewscreen, Chakotay felt his stomach lurch, and his spirits sink. Ronara had never been noted for it's beauty, being a dusty brown world. But Chakotay knew without looking at the sensors, that Voyager was too late in offering aid. Ronara Prime's atmosphere seemed to have somehow disappeared, large arcs of lightening shooting across the airless surface.

"Lifesigns?"

"None," Harry said, a sombre note in his voice.

"The planet is void of all organic matter, and it's atmosphere has dissipated entirely," reported Telfer.

"What's causing the lightning?" Tom remarked.

"It's not lightning, but an unknown phenomena...I can't determine the cause."

"Are we detecting a weapons signature?" Chakotay asked Lyssa.

"No, sir...But the planet appears to be in a state of temporal flux...I believe the whole planet is out of phase somehow."

"Captain, if I remember rightly, the Romulans were building an embassy in Ronara Prime's capital...We could date a sample of the construction materials to figure out just how far out of sync the planet is," Tom suggested.

Chakotay nodded, anger visible on his features. They all thought they'd seen their last Cardassian atrocity years ago.

"Chakotay to Vorik."

" _Vorik here, sir."_

"Prepare to receive a sample of Romulan masonry from the planet's surface...The sample has been stripped of all organic components so devise a way to date it."

" _Yes, sir."_

"We have the sample onboard, sir," Harry announced.

"Sir," began Telfer, "I can't begin to try and ascertain exactly what happened to Ronara Prime. Frankly, looking at the data, myself and the entire science staff could be here for a couple of years before we figure it out...I recommend transmitting our findings to the  _Nova_  before continuing the investigation when we pick up our full science staff at DS9."

"I have another idea Ensign. Harry, contact Jupiter Station. I think we need the Think Tank's help on this one."

Harry nodded, and merely a second later, Seven of Nine appeared on the screen.

" _Hello, Chakotay."_ she smiled at him, slightly flustered. Only then did Chakotay notice the raging battle in the background.

" _Jish is regretting inviting Lewis Zimmerman to join the Think Tank...He and the Doctor do not see eye to eye..."_

Chakotay bit his lip, imagining that that personality clash could be quite amusing.

"I see...Seven we need the Think Tank's help...There's been a biological attack on Ronara Prime...We can't make heads or tails of the data we've collected, and we won't have a fully staffed science department for another two weeks."

Seven nodded, seemingly grinding her teeth before turning her attention momentarily to the noise emanating from behind her.

" _Doctors, please behave! We have work to do. If you two cannot learn to get along, I'll place you both in an isolation chamber until you learn to either behave or grow up!"_

Seemingly feeling better for telling off 'father and son', Seven continued their conversation.

" _Send your data to us, and we'll prepare a preliminary report for you."_

Chakotay looked to Harry and Telfer. "Commander Kim and Ensign Telfer and sending the information to you now...Thank you for helping us with this...We'll be heading to the Cardassian colony Bryma, should you need to contact us."

Seven nodded, before terminating communications.

" _Vorik to Chakotay...Captain, I have ascertained the age of the Romulan masonry. It appears to be 947 years old."_

Chakotay's eyes widened as Vorik confirmed the impossible. Somehow, someone or something had stripped this planet of all its biological components, and sent it back in time over 900 years. Why? Ronara Prime was a relatively harmless world of little strategic or political importance.

"Who could do this to a planet?" Tom asked, worried and exasperated.

 _Who indeed?_  Thought Chakotay.

* * *

Selar busied herself in the science labs, growing bored of the menial tasks she'd been assigned. She raised an eyebrow as Tal Celes and Adam Ashmore wheeled a large lump of granite into the lab. Her curiosity piqued, she accessed Voyager's activity logs, and found some of the telemetry regarding Ronara Prime.

Being a Q and not a Vulcan, she felt a large knot form in her stomach.

Her worst fears had just been confirmed...


	5. Chapter 5

Chakotay continued staring at the viewscreen, disturbed by the sight of the barren ball of rock that was once a thriving world. Part of him knew that Voyager should continue on to Bryma, and let the Think Tank figure out what had happened. Meanwhile another part of him desperately needed answers.

"What are you thinking sir?" asked Tom.

Chakotay bit his lip, trying to come to a decision.

"Get Sam and Dr. Selar up here...I want to see if we can send an away team."

* * *

"What's with the rock?" Lieutenant Samantha Wildman asked as she watched Tal Celes frantically scan the stone.

"It's a stone from the Romulan Embassy on Ronara Prime. Vorik asked us to date it."

"Ronara Prime?"

Sam sighed. Despite being acting head of Voyager's science departments, she was still routinely kept out of the loop. It was never done maliciously, but it still got to her.

"What are we doing at Ronara Prime?"

"We received a distress call-" Selar began to explain, but was cut off by Tom's voice on the intercom.

" _Lieutenant Wildman and Dr. Selar, please report to the bridge."_

"I guess I'll find out," Sam sighed, leaving the lab.

* * *

As Selar stepped out onto Voyager's impressive bridge, she struggled to keep up her Vulcan facade, feeling rage bubble near the surface as she viewed the destroyed world on the viewscreen.

"Sam, Dr. Selar...Ronara Prime has been wiped out by an unknown weapon or phenomena. The planet appears to have been displaced over 900 years into the past. I'd like you to ascertain whether or not the planet is safe enough to send an away team," Chakotay explained quickly to the pair, before taking a second look.

"Dr. Selar...have we met before? You look familiar."

Selar mentally kicked herself. She had met Chakotay before, during the Q Civil War. They'd worked together a lot over the course of two days. She should have realised she'd look familiar to him, given the strong resemblance between her Human and Vulcan selves. She decided to play it safe, hoping he would not reveal her identity.

"I have served in Starfleet for many years. We may have met in passing, but I do not remember."

That explanation seemed to appease the Captain's instincts. At least, for now. But Selar could see herself requesting a transfer in order to keep her secret safe.

Chakotay flashed her a small smile. "That must be it."

Sam had already joined her counterpart at the Science Station. Billy was senior in Astrophysics, Quantum mechanics and other disciplines, while Sam was senior in Exobiology and other natural sciences. She looked shocked by the data she was seeing.

"The planet has been completely stripped of all biological components, down to the sub-atomic level?" she was incredulous. "That's impossible. We've encountered phenomena and weapons that could destroy all life down to the microbial level, but even then there were traces of organic residue."

"Indeed," Selar concurred before continuing. "Captain, I would not recommend transporting to the surface. I had a chance to review the preliminary data from Ronara Prime. While most of the structures on the planet's surface are still standing, they are now ancient. Also, even the most sterile of building materials inevitably gets compromised by insects, fungi, moss and lichens for example...Over time, these elements become key components in a building's structural integrity. Remove the biological elements, and a structure can become unstable."

Sam nodded in agreement. "Add that to the fact that we can't determine what caused this planet to die...An away team could be killed instantaneously."

Chakotay nodded solemnly. He had guessed that Wildman and Selar would not approve of an away mission, but he had to try.

"Thank you for your input. We have more raw data on Ronara here, if you'd like to work on the bridge. Tom, lay in a course for Bryma, warp eight."

"Aye, sir."

Selar moved to join Wildman and Telfer in the alcove that housed the science station. She was feeling very uneasy, and hoped her Q nature would not let her down.

"How long will it take us to get to Bryma?" Chakotay asked his First Officer.

"About thirty minutes."

"Captain," Harry said as his console beeped. "We're getting an incoming transmission from Seven of Nine."

"On screen," Chakotay said, sitting in his seat.

As Seven appeared, Selar noted the worry etched on the former Borg's face.

" _Hello again Captain,"_ Seven was all business.

"You don't look too happy Seven."

" _Indeed,"_ Seven looked solemn. " _I believe I have an explanation as to why Ronara was displaced in time, although I do not know_ how  _the feat was accomplished. I have been unable to share my knowledge with my colleagues, though I have given some basic information to the Doctor. I am transmitting my findings to you Chakotay. Luckily, Starfleet protocol has relaxed slightly on this matter, though you should dismiss any Ensigns and Lieutenants from your bridge before we continue this conversation."_

Selar took in this information. This was a classified matter, that much was certain. Meant for Lt. Commanders and above only it seemed.

"Alright," said Chakotay. "Wildman, Telfer, Campbell, Chung...Return to duty in ten minutes...Dismissed."

Sam and Billy exchanged worried glances. Linda dutifully filed out, shrugging her shoulders at Lyssa who understandably looked perturbed. As security chief, she liked knowing exactly what was going on with Voyager at all times.

When the crewmembers left the bridge, Seven continued the conversation.

" _I believe the planet was displaced in time in order to minimize the damage to this region of space."_

"Go on..." Chakotay said, a note of worry in his voice.

" _Omega. This planet has traces of Omega on its surface and in its crust. Whoever destroyed this world did so by constructing a weapon powered by the molecules. Someone has harnessed Omega, to devastating effect. It appears displacing the planet meant that minimal damage was caused to subspace, due to the fact the subspace fissures we have detected are 'scars' and not 'open wounds'."_

"If Ronara had been destroyed right here and now, Warp-capable vessels would be aggravating any damage to subspace...However, now the fissures are stable, and no longer a threat to us." Chakotay answered.

" _Indeed. I have contacted Starfleet Command. They are sending a specialist squadron to Ronara Prime. You are to continue to Bryma, and keep a lookout for Omega."_

Chakotay nodded at Seven, before breaking communications.

He addressed the bridge crew. "Although the Omega Directive is common knowledge among all officers about a level six clearance, you are not permitted to discuss what we have just heard with anyone outwith this room, even if they hold clearance. Omega is on a need-to-know basis."

"I'll be in my ready room," he stated. "Tom, you have the bridge, and you can call back junior officers to the bridge when needed."

"Aye sir...Lieutenant Chung, please report to the bridge."

Selar looked around at the bridge crew, before glancing back at the work station.

The Q's greatest enemy had harnessed Omega.

This changed everything. Selar realised that there was only one person in the Andromeda Galaxy that knew of the particle.

_Kathryn Elizabeth Janeway, what have you done?_


	6. Chapter 6

Selar arrived in sickbay, having been relieved from the Bridge when Telfer had returned to his station. Being the only MD on-board, Selar easily made an excuse and returned to the solitude of Voyager's compact sickbay.

She had to get back to the continuum.

Clicking her fingers, she found herself back 'home'. This time, there were no Q hippies to greet her, and she found herself wearing Q robes and standing in a board room. Three Q judges stood at the other end of a large table.

Obviously, news of the harnessing of Omega had reached the Continuum, she noted, turning to look at a large mirror adorning one of the walls. She was in a generic humanoid form, she noted, pursing her blue lips together.

"Qenayu," one of the Qs called.

Qenayu hesitated to respond for a second before mentally noting to herself that she had been spending too much time as Selar recently.

"Yes?" Qenayu noticed that the female Q that had greeted her was Qamatzi, one of the elite Q lords.

"It seems we've caused a problem, and when I say 'we', of course I really mean you." Qamatzi glared at her.

"They may not have obtained information on Omega through Kath-Qatala," Qenayu found herself almost using Qatala's human name.

"Omega does not occur naturally in the Enemy's galaxy...Omega needs very specific conditions to exist. You know that the Q have only encountered it in twenty five thousand galaxies, out of the two million we've actively studied. You deposited Qatala in the Enemy's territory, probably so she'd be happy, and so you'd have a reason to snoop on them. In Qatala's previous life as Kathryn Janeway, she and Seven of Nine became the only two beings in the Milky Way to directly observe stabilized Omega. Now, just six months after Qatala left us, suddenly the Enemy has attacked the Milky Way, using a weapon powered by the particle. I am sensing no coincidence here."

Qenayu looked to the ground, knowing that Qamatzi was right.

"I am sorry...Is there any way I can make up for this misdemeanour."

"I do not believe so Qenayu, but we, the Lords of the Continuum are debating whether or not to give the Omega technology to the Federation. Sadly, they are the most advanced and benevolent of the Milky Way powers. We personally cannot strike against the Enemy unless they attempt another insurgency in the Continuum."

Qenayu sighed. It seemed wrong of the Continuum to not actively step in and stop the Enemy. It went against Q nature and Q sensibilities.

"Qenayu, I know you do not like the rules of the New Law, but you are bound to follow them."

Qenayu would get around the Lords, but for now, she had to toe the line. She would decide what action to take once Voyager reached Bryma.

"I will uphold the New Law, Qamatzi."

"I am glad to hear that, Qenayu."

With a click of her fingers, Qenayu returned to Voyager's sickbay, groaning at her Vulcan appearance once more.

* * *

 _Life without warp drive,_ Tom mused, the concept alien to him. When Seven had told Chakotay that whatever had destroyed Ronara Prime had been Omega-based, the fear on the Bridge became palpable. Whoever wanted to experiment on the particles had to be foolish, evil, or psychotic.

Tom hoped they'd find out who was responsible for Ronara Prime once they reached Bryma, which would be right about - his console beeped - now.

"We've reached Bryma," Tom announced.

"I'm detecting a repeating message from the surface," Harry noted.

"Let's hear it," Chakotay said.

Harry nodded, and the message played over the intercom.

" _This is Kel Demek, Overseer of the Independent Cardassian colony Bryma. Our former allies, the people of Ronara are bombarding our planet with a type of radiation we are not familiar with. All the Federation technologies gifted to us after the Dominion War are inaccessible, and are displaying some strange Terran symbol that we have identified as 'Omega'. We can only assume that the Federation wishes to destroy us in retribution for Cardassia Prime's involvement in the War. Our surface is becoming uninhabitable. Towns are being destroyed. We do not know how much longer we can survive-_

" _This is Kel Demek, Overseer of the-"_

"That's the entire message Captain. It just goes round in a loop," Harry sighed as he shut off the signal.

"We're in full visual and sensor range sir," said Lyssa Campbell.

"On screen."

The once beautiful planet Bryma, nicknamed "the Cardassian Emerald" was now void of life, looking very much like Ronara Prime.

"We're getting the exact same readings sir," Billy announced. "No biological matter, no atmosphere. That signal's also over 900 years old."

Chakotay closed his eyes for a moment.

"Harry, run scan sequence Omega-3."

Harry set about running the classified scan. While Lyssa Campbell and Billy Telfer were still on the bridge, they'd both helped with the Omega situation on Voyager seven years earlier. A look of realisation crossed Lyssa's features, but she remained silent.

Within seconds of initiating the scan, the Omega symbol appeared on every console. Sighing, Chakotay quickly input his command code, removing it.

"Harry, send a priority one message to Starfleet Command, let them know we've found the same situation on Bryma as we did on Ronara Prime."

"Yes sir."

"Whoever's done this...They've wanted to make it look like these two planets attacked each other," Tom reasoned.

"But they weren't expecting a Starfleet science vessel to go by and investigate," Chakotay said.

"Why these two worlds though? Did they, whoever 'they' are, do this to reintroduce hostilities between us and the Cardassians?" Harry thought out loud.

"Or did they pick out these two planets as a test site, thinking no-one would care about two frontier worlds," Tom said, anger creeping into his words.

Harry's console beeped. "Response from Starfleet Command. Voyager is to leave orbit and continue to Deep Space Nine and pick up the rest of our crew. The USS  _Nova_ has been reassigned to the PDMZ to check in on all the colonies in the sector."

Chakotay expected as much.

"Billy, continue to look at the data we've gathered. Tom, reset our course for Deep Space Nine."

* * *

Down in sickbay, Selar was running an analysis on a piece of the Romulan rock. She turned to her console, when she noticed her commands were not being recognised. The Omega symbol stared back at her for a moment, before control was returned to her.

Realising that Bryma had suffered the same fate as Ronara Prime, and knowing that this could destabilize the Quadrant if Cardassia pointed the finger at the Federation, Selar made her decision, and headed for the Bridge.

* * *

Selar's arrival on the bridge surprised Chakotay and the rest of the senior staff.

"Doctor...can we help you?"

Anger and determination were visible on the Vulcan's face, and this worried Chakotay. Vulcans never showed emotion unless something was wrong. Really wrong. He saw Lyssa reach for her phaser – just in case.

"As a matter of fact Captain, you can."

Chakotay exchanged a furtive glance with his First Officer, noting that Tom was poised to take action. Selar seemed not to care about her un-Vulcan behaviour.

"Captain, you were right when you said we'd met before, and I know exactly who did this," she nodded her head at the image of Bryma on the screen.

Chakotay's eyes narrowed and Selar raised an eyebrow as he scrutinized her appearance. Suddenly, Chakotay scowled, seemingly having placed her.

"No...It couldn't be..." he shook his head, backing away from her.

With a snap of her fingers, Selar disappeared, and a tall woman with a mass of red hair and mischievous eyes appeared in her place.

Chakotay felt his face flush with anger.

"Q."


	7. Chapter 7

"Very perceptive of you, Captain." Qenayu said with sarcasm.

"Where's Dr. Selar?" Chakotay grew even angrier.

"I am Dr. Selar."

"No, you're not. You're a Q. A menace to mortal species. Dr. Selar's a distinguished Starfleet officer." Chakotay spat.

"Indeed she is, but we are the same person. I have…'portrayed' Selar for the full length of her 'life', along with many others. She is a fabrication."

Chakotay was not really interested in her explanation. His main concern was the safety of his ship. He wanted to know what threat the female Q was to Voyager.

"Why are you here? Are you responsible for the destruction of these planets?"

Qenayu herself grew angry, indignant at being accused of such an atrocity.

"I know my people are not well-liked by humans, but do you really believe us capable of this?"

"Quite frankly, yes."

Qenayu paused for a moment, pacing the Bridge, before joining Chakotay and Tom on the command deck.

"Believe what you want Chakotay. But trust me when I say, I know who did this, and that it was not us. As for why I am here…" Qenayu paced again, looking at each Bridge officer in turn, "…I told a friend I would watch over you all."

"Would this friend also happen to be a Q?" Chakotay was skeptical.

"Sort of." Qenayu responded quixotically.

Chakotay's anger was now beginning to be replaced by confusion and puzzlement.

Cutting him off before he could ask more questions, Qenayu continued.

"I revealed my true identity upon figuring out who did this," she pointed a finger at the image of Bryma, before holding her hand up to stop the crew from interrupting.

"The Q have always had an interest in this galaxy. The races here are intelligent and varied. We've studied humanity in detail as you are at the heart of one of the biggest democracies of the Milky Way. We have also been testing and readying you over the last few decades."

"Why?"

Qenayu ignored Chakotay's question, continuing her story.

"The Q may be omnipotent, but that does not automatically make us "all-knowing" and invulnerable. We have enemies who have banned us from their domains. One of these enemies in particular has given us cause for concern in recent years. Their galaxy is not far from here, and we knew that they would eventually set their sights on you. Your galaxy. So we've been challenging you. Testing you. Readying you all for the day this enemy would begin their incursion. It is no coincidence that my former mate Q introduced the Enterprise-D to the Borg. Nor is it a coincidence that the Bajoran wormhole was not discovered until Starfleet took up residence in the Bajoran system. The Q have singled out humanity as you are the largest component of Starfleet, which is, in turn, the largest single composite part of the United Federation of Planets. You are this galaxy's best hope in stopping the Enemy." Qenayu finished, looking once more at Bryma.

"Why do you need us to fight a war against these…extra-galactic aggressors?" Tom asked, hostility in his voice, "Surely, if they can challenge you, then we're no match for them."

"This Enemy knows of…certain weaknesses in the continuum. Eons ago, they started a war with us. In the end, there was no victor, but we agreed to leave their galaxy alone. We have not been allowed in their galaxy for a million years now, but we have developed ways of…indirectly monitoring them, and realised that their quest to dominate this region of space, this Local Group, was making them even more dangerous."

"But you could vanish them out of existence, couldn't you?" Tom offered.

Qenayu smirked slightly, shaking her head at the linear human thought. "One omnipotent race can hardly destroy another, can it?"

"But if they're omnipotent, why would they not destroy  _us_ in the blink of an eye?" Chakotay said, exasperation now present in his voice.

"Do you honestly think the Enemy would physically wage a war themselves? Why do that when they have a whole galaxy of lesser species at their disposal?"

Chakotay glowered at Qenayu, before looking around the crew. He exchanged confused glances with Tom, Harry, Lyssa, Billy and Linda and the rest of Alpha shift, all of them looking as worried and perplexed as he felt.

"So what do you expect us to do? How can we fight against an enemy who resides in another galaxy? Even if you tell us everything about them, we'd have no way of striking back."

Qenayu smiled slightly, biting her bottom lip.

"Voyager was never part of our plan for this galaxy. You were a small vessel for short-range missions. But your sudden sojourn to the Delta Quadrant will prove invaluable.

"Your survival in the Delta Quadrant was not expected, but you soon piqued the interest of many in the continuum, especially in your handling of the situation with Quinn. We began to see something in you, something that perhaps even you yourselves do not see yet."

Chakotay narrowed his eyes, still confused, but wishing the Q to continue.

"I am one hundred percent certain that surviving the journey home is the thing the crew of Voyager is most proud of, and that you all presume your voyage across this galaxy will be your lasting legacy."

Chakotay inclined his head, noting the silent agreement of his officers.

"The Delta Quadrant will not be your legacy…The Delta Quadrant was your proving ground, readying you for a far greater challenge...The challenge of saving this entire galaxy, and perhaps another…Of course if I explain what I want you to do, you'll say no. So I have no choice but to do this without your consent. The fate of your species and your home depends on it."

With that, Qenayu smiled once more, and snapped her fingers.

Immediately, the ship began to shake, panels began beeping and the Red Alert klaxon sounded. Officers scrambled to find out what was happening, and how to stop it.

Tom took the conn, noting Linda Chung on the floor, a large gash on her head. "Our velocity is…is…infinite?!" He noted with shock.

"Structural integrity at forty seven percent!" Harry yelled.

"I can't stop us, sir!" Tom shouted.

"Try to slow us down!" Chakotay asked, finally making it to his chair.

"The engines aren't responding!"

"Hull breaches on decks 4, 6, 7, 11, 12 and 15!" Harry announced, as the sound of buckling metal grew louder.

"If this doesn't stop soon, we're going to be shaken apa-" Harry's yell was interrupted by the ship suddenly stopping.

"We've stopped." Tom said, releasing a breath he hadn't been aware he'd been holding.

"Damage reported on all decks." Lyssa Campbell barked, "Repair crews responding…We have one fatality, several injuries…Two critical."

Chakotay felt his heart sink at the news, but he knew they'd have time to grieve for their loss later. Right now, they had to find out what had happened.

"Harry, where are we?" Chakotay asked cautiously.

Harry's console beeped. "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh? Harry, I swear, if you tell me we're on the other side of the galaxy, I might just shoot you."

Harry grimaced, not yet looking at his Captain. "You'll have to dig my grave as well, sir…We're two million light years from where we last were…We're in the Andromeda Galaxy."


	8. Chapter 8

"Phoebe...Phoebe? Are you alright?"

Slowly blinking back to consciousness, Phoebe turned to look up at Sekaya whose face was etched with concern.

"What happened?" She winced.

"Something hit the ship...I think...I haven't contacted Chakotay yet but we seemed to take quite a pounding. You hit your head on the table."

With Sekaya's help, Phoebe slowly got to her feet. She noted that the mess hall was now deserted. Everyone was at their emergency stations.

B'Elanna sat nearby, cradling Miral, who looked a little shaken but was uninjured. B'Elanna's gaze was serious, focused on the stars outside. Phoebe gingerly turned to look out of the window, and was puzzled by what she saw.

The stars were now a myriad of amber hues, and space itself had a golden tint, punctuated with nebulous clouds.

"What the hell?"

* * *

"Shut off the primary plasma injectors," Vorik ordered Lieutenant Mulcahey, "Foster, find out what's draining our deuterium."

"Aye, sir."

"We've got thrusters and impulse engines back online," announced Trill engineer Anzia Teg.

" _Commander Vorik. What shape are we in down there?"_ Chakotay's normally calm voice sounded terse over the intercom.

"We have restored thrusters and impulse engines sir. However, the warp drive has taken considerable damage. It will be several hours before we can get the warp core back online. We are also experiencing a drain on our deuterium reserves, the cause of which is yet unknown."

" _Acknowledged."_

"Captain, may I inquire as to what has just transpired?"

" _We've just had a run-in with the female Q. I'll be making an announcement shortly."_

"Yes, sir."

* * *

"She's coming around," Tom informed Chakotay as Linda Chung opened her eyes.

"Tom, take her to sickbay, and give Doreen a hand." Chakotay said, referring to Voyager's pre-named EMH.

"Aye, sir."

* * *

Tom arrived in sickbay to disarray.

Doreen had already been activated and was tending to the wounded. Lieutenant Andrews was lying on the main biobed.

"Commander Paris. I have stabilised Ensign Green, but Andrews has a ruptured spleen, a collapsed lung and massive internal bleeding. Please tend to the other casualties."

Tom merely nodded before heading over to Hickman who had a deep gash on his forehead. After performing a quick scan and healing the wound, Tom diagnosed a mild concussion.

"Danny, we're a bit swamped in here. I'll get Astall to take you back to your quarters. Keep off your feet for forty-eight hours if I don't get to treat you again."

Hickman nodded, still feeling groggy.

"Paris to Astall. Please report to sickbay."

Tom then began treating Linda, whom he gave the same diagnosis. As he moved on to Crewman Mendez's broken wrist, B'Elanna, Miral, Phoebe and Sekaya arrived in sickbay. Tom's paternal instincts kicked in and he left his patient.

"Miral's fine," B'Elanna said, "but she wanted to see you, and I knew you'd be here. Phoebe took a tumble in the mess hall. We think she's got a concussion."

"Her and half the crew." Tom sighed, looking around sickbay at the half-dozen or so crewmembers holding their heads in their hands.

"What happened?" asked Sekaya.

Tom didn't want believe what he'd just heard on the bridge.

"Uhm..." he paused, "Chakotay said he'd make an announcement soon."

"That bad?"

Tom didn't have to nod.

At that moment the Huanni Counselor, Astall arrived in sickbay looking slightly shaken.

"Astall, could you accompany Danny Hickman back to his quarters?"

"Of course," Astall smiled before escorting the engineering officer out of sickbay.

"Sekaya, can you take Linda Chung to her quarters?"

"Sure," Sekaya said, helping the small woman to her feet, "then I'll be going to talk to that brother of mine."

As Sekaya left, B'Elanna gave her husband a small smile before taking Miral into Doreen's office.

Tom sighed, getting back to work. He glanced back at Doreen, still desperately trying to save Andrews' life.

* * *

"I've got the astrometrics sensors back online!" Cadet Naomi Wildman yelled through the clouds of steam that had engulfed the astrometrics lab.

"Good! Try and get a better fix on our location!" Tal Celes shouted as she recalibrated the sensors to cut through the interference that was emanating from the micro-nebulas surrounding Voyager.

Naomi sighed in relief as she managed to restore the environmental controls and flushed out the steam.

"Andromeda's a barred spiral galaxy like the Milky Way. It's bigger than our own, but we can use the same mapping system," Celes explained.

"Okay."

Naomi input some commands, and brought up a rough map of the galaxy.

"We're in a region in one of the outer spiral arms of the galaxy. I'm splitting the galaxy into four quadrants like our own. I've named them Epsilon, Zeta, Eta and Theta. Using this data and utilising what data we have, we appear to be on the border of the Epsilon and Zeta quadrants."

"Here's what the astrometrics sensors have discovered about this sector so far..." Celes said, hitting the controls.

A map of the sector appeared, showing a rather busy area of space.

"This area is chock-full of star systems!"

"Busy neighbourhood!"

"You could say...Not detecting any humanoid lifesigns, though."

" _Chakotay to Astrometrics."_

"Tal here, sir," Celes responded.

" _Are astrometric sensors online?"_

"Yes, sir."

" _We're experiencing a drain on our deuterium reserves. I need you to locate a source of deuterium, should we need it."_

"Yes, sir."

While Chakotay had been talking, Naomi had already input the correct search algorithm. Her panel beeped.

"Captain, we're reading raw deuterium concentrations less than a light year away from our current position. I've sent the coordinates to the bridge," said Naomi.

" _Good work."_

The console beeped again, and Celes moved to analyze the console's readout.

"Uh, sir...The readings are coming from several vessels docked at some sort of...array."

* * *

Harry locked on to the coordinates and began a scan.

"I don't believe it," he said incredulously, "That 'array', it's nearly identical to both the Caretaker and Suspiria's arrays, only much larger and...and I'll be damned...I'm reading a sporocystian lifesign within the structure."

"This array seems to have a different function, sir," said Billy Telfer, "I'm reading several vessels, dozens of species. The universal translator is struggling with the Andromedian languages, but subspace chatter seems to indicate it's a depot or trading post of some kind."

"I agree sir," said Lyssa, "but if we're going to go there, I recommend we use caution."

Chakotay nodded, "Noted, but we're further from home than we've ever been. Call it a hunch but I'm willing to bet that the 'Enemy' is that sporocystian lifeform, and that it's a Nacene, and that it can get us home.

"Chakotay to Vorik. We're heading towards an array, zero point nine light years from our current position. How long will it take us to get there?"

" _Without a functioning warp drive, it will take us approximately three days. Warp drive should be restored within a few hours, provided that we discover what is causing the deuterium problem. If we regain warp drive, we can be at the array within ten hours."_

"Do we have enough deuterium to get us to the array?"

" _There is no way to be certain, sir."_

"Acknowledged. Hamilton, set a course for the array, maximum impulse."


	9. Chapter 9

Fear gripped her stomach with all it's icy might. Phoebe looked out at the amber heavens, cold and unknown. The stars barely moved, reminding her of how slowly Voyager was travelling.

Phoebe was terrified. A short while ago Chakotay had made an announcement that Voyager was once again lost. This time in the Andromeda galaxy, thanks to the female Q. The ship was crawling towards a space station to refuel.

Was this how Kathryn had felt? Phoebe wondered as her anxieties made her nauseous.

"No, Phoebe. You're concussed. You're not thinking straight. We'll be home soon." She chastised herself.

The female Q couldn't leave them out here.

Could she?

Phoebe's stomach lurched again, and she suddenly felt dizzy. She returned to sit at the table in her quarters, trying to will the fog in her mind to go away. She winced as her door chimed, sounding much louder than normal.

"Come in."

The doors opened, and Sekaya walked in.

"How's the headache?"

"Not good." Phoebe admitted, smiling slightly.

Sekaya returned the smile, sitting down opposite her.

"Thought you could use a little company."

"Thank you," Phoebe was grateful, "How are you holding up?"

"Not good, to be honest. Worried about Chakotay...If we don't manage to find a way back..."

Phoebe looked at Sekaya, "Chakotay will find it tough, but he'll get through it...and so will the rest of us."

Sekaya nodded, "I know...it's just...He's my brother and I can't help but worry."

"Trust me, I know how you feel, especially with the unique brand of Janeway idiocy my sister utilised so often." Phoebe smirked sadly.

Sekaya smiled too, remember all the tales Chakotay had told her about Kathryn's stubbornness and dogged determination.

* * *

Naomi finished her duty shift at 17.00 hours, but now at 17.05 and on her way to her quarters, she felt like she should be doing more to help. Celes however had assured her that if she was needed, they'd call her.

"Naomi!"

She turned round to see B'Elanna Torres marching towards her, Miral stuck to her hip, looking nonplussed.

"Can I help you, ma'am?"

"Could you watch Miral for a while? Tom's in sickbay and there's a problem in engineering...I want to give Vorik a hand."

Naomi smiled before talking the calm toddler from her mother.

"What's your name?" Miral asked her.

"I'm Naomi. I'm your mom's friend Sam's daughter!"

Miral smiled cheekily.

"Naomi, all her toys are in a blue chest in my quarters. If she gets boisterous, just go in and get her Flotter doll."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Miral, honey, mommy's got to go and work, so Naomi's going to look after you for a little while."

"Where's daddy?"

"Daddy's working too...Will you be good for Naomi?"

"Uh-huh."

"Good girl...see you soon."

B'Elanna smiled before heading back along the corridor.

* * *

She arrived in Engineering to pandemonium. Crewmembers darted about here and there, effecting repairs as they went.

"Vorik! Need a hand?" B'Elanna shouted above the din.

"Yes, ma'am. Your help would be most appreciated."

"I understand you've been experiencing a drain on our deuterium?"

"Indeed."

"I've been looking over the data, and I think the deuterium is literally seeping into space at the atomic level via the Bussard collectors, and binding with the micro-nebulas surrounding us."

"Then the solution would be to seal the Bussard collectors." Vorik reasoned.

B'Elanna was suddenly unsure of her idea, "I'm not sure if I'm right."

"I have learned to trust you instincts in engineering matters, B'Elanna."

"Besides can't hurt to give it a try," smiled Teg.

Vorik nodded to Teg, "Assemble a team and work with Ms. Torres."

B'Elanna gave Vorik a small smile, "Thank you."

"No, thank you, ma'am," Vorik replied.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the Bussard collectors were sealed, and the deuterium levels had stabilised. However, Voyager could now no longer make it to the space station, given how little fuel was left.

"Vorik to Chakotay."

" _Chakotay here."_

"Ms. Torres and ensign Teg have halted the deuterium leak, however, the Bussard collectors have been disabled, and we no longer have enough deuterium to make the journey to the array."

* * *

The lights on the bridge flickered as if they were agreeing with the Vulcan.

"We'll have to send a Delta Flyer," Chakotay sighed, glad that Voyager now had several of the Borg-enhanced craft onboard, "Vorik, you and I will look for a source of deuterium."

" _Yes, sir."_

"Harry, take Celes and try and barter for star charts and maps. Hopefully we'll be back in the Milky Way before we need them, but I'd like to be prepared if we aren't."

* * *

"We're approaching the array." Chakotay said from the helm of the Bergamo.

Voyager had seven Delta Flyer class mid-range reconnaissance shuttles, all named after Terran mountain ranges.

"Can you find anything remotely like a docking port?" Chakotay asked Harry.

"Yes sir," Harry's console beeped, "We're being hailed, audio only."

" _Unidentified vessel. You are approaching the Canteni Trading post. You are welcome at our depot provided you conduct yourself in a tescheg manner."_

" _Tescheg_?" Celes said.

"That was an automated message. The Universal translator is struggling a bit." Harry sighed, "I've forwarded the location of the docking port to your console."

Chakotay nodded, heading for the co-ordinates.

The docking procedure went perfectly, but Vorik's console beeped.

"The air pressure inside the array varies from our own...We will have to acclimatise ourselves here before disembarking."

Chakotay sighed, "Acknowledged."

"We're being hailed again." Harry remarked.

" _Unidentified vessel. Why the delay in disembarking?"_

"This is Captain Chakotay of the Bergamo," Chakotay said, wanting to conceal Voyager's existence, "We need to acclimatise to your array's air pressure before we leave our vessel."

" _Very well, Captain...Chakotay is an unusual name. Which order is it from?"_

"I'm not from around here, so you'll be unfamiliar with my...order." Chakotay adjusted to the lingo.

" _Intriguing,"_ the alien replied, " _I'm Tambil Kel, of the Vatanak Co-operative. I'm head of inbound operations for day shift. We always welcome tescheg newcomers! If you need anything during your stay, do not hesitate to contact me."_

"Thank you. We'll keep your offer in mind."

The alien broke off communication.

"There's that word again... _Tescheg_." Harry grimaced.

"They seem friendly," Celes said dispassionately.

"What's the catch?"

"We'll find out..." Chakotay looked at the pressure gauge, "in twenty minutes."


	10. Chapter 10

The array's interior was painted white with pale blues and greys. It looked very sterile, but Chakotay's nose told him otherwise. He gave Vorik a sympathetic look, knowing that the slight stench would be heightened by his Vulcan sense of smell.

"Okay...Harry, Celes. You go off to the right," Chakotay nodded, looking along the corridor they'd found themselves in, "Vorik and I will keep to the left-"

Suddenly they could hear children giggling – and little footsteps. Four or five children ran by, and Chakotay noted they were all Saurian races, and none were humanoid as such. One of the children – a strange creature with four legs and two smaller limbs that were a cross between arms and claws - stopped while the others ran on. The infant, neither appearing male nor female looked at them with brilliant sapphire blue eyes. The child seemed intimidated, backing away.

"It's okay...we're friends," Celes smiled, but as she stepped forward, the creature gasped and yelped, running off down the corridor after it's friends.

"Those other...children with it were all different species, but it was afraid of us," Harry said sadly.

"That doesn't bode well." Celes stated.

"We still need deuterium and those maps," Chakotay looked at her. They couldn't afford to worry right now.

"We'll meet back here within the hour...No later."

* * *

Despite the fact that Chakotay was on an away mission, Tom continued his work in sickbay. Doreen was still tending to Andrews, but most of the other casualties had returned to their quarters.

Tom however, had another job to do – inoculations. The Federation knew from their dealings with a species called the Kelvans that Andromeda was a highly radioactive galaxy. Tom had checked external radiation levels as soon as he'd gotten the chance, and was now formulating a vaccine against as many radiations as he could. Disturbingly, there were several forms of radiation present that had never been documented in the Milky Way, and there was no way for Tom or Doreen to anticipate what effects these radiations could have on the crew in either the short or long term.

"I think I'm done with these Doreen," he said to the EMH.

"Thank you Commander."

Tom stared at Doreen for a few seconds, and for not the first time, he missed good ol' Doc. Tom thought of the irony of him missing Voyager's original EMH. Following the holo-revolution, EMHs had had their programming restricted. Doreen was pleasant enough, but she seemed artificial – a facsimile of a person, whereas Doc had grown to become a fully realised individual. Doreen's programming was not adaptive, and she regularly cleaned out her program files without a second thought, deleting all of her memories of personal contact with members of the crew.

If they were going to be stuck out here, he would need to get Harry to tweak her program, or Tom would be serving as First Officer, helmsman, husband, father and doctor to boot.

Doreen obviously wasn't going to review Tom's work anytime soon, so he retreated to the office to update the wounded crew members' medical files.

* * *

Chakotay and Vorik had walked for several minutes before finding any signs of life beyond the murmuring of voices some distance away.

The man was a portly, small saurian species that reminded Chakotay of a Barnacled Langar Turtle - if Barnacled Langar Turtles walked upright and had bird-like beaks. He appeared to be stunned at seeing Chakotay and Vorik, and looked at them as though examining a rare animal or a piece of merchandise. Huffing, the chubby alien moved off, clicking his 'fingers'. A wretched little figure scurried out from a nook in a bulkhead. She was humanoid, and mammalian, and was thoroughly emaciated. She did not seem to fear the man who was obviously her 'owner'. Instead she bounded after him on unsteady limbs, glancing back at them out of curiosity and not fear.

"Perhaps mammalian humanoids in this galaxy have not developed as great a measure of intelligence as in our own galaxy."

Chakotay nodded and grimaced, realising that the scrawny humanoid may be a maltreated pet, and not a slave.

"It's still unsettling."

"Indeed," Vorik admitted.

* * *

Harry had noticed the whispering and the change in atmosphere as soon as his and Celes' presence had been noticed. People looked at them with looks of confusion, worry and disgust. The crowd, as with the children they'd seen earlier, were all saurian – reptilian. There were only a few humanoids present.

Harry mustered up a friendly smile, as Celes kept close, standing behind him. Harry put his hand down on a counter of what looked like a cafe counter, but the proprietor scowled at him. Harry removed his hand and decided he and Celes better go back the way they came.

"Commander..." Celes said, looking at where Harry had stood moments earlier.

The proprietor was busy washing the counter where Harry had touched it.

"Maybe we smell funny to them?" Celes tried to understand the alien's reaction to them.

"Maybe..."

Harry had a bad feeling about this.

* * *

A few moments later, Celes' tricorder located another corridor, and both she and Harry proceeded towards it with caution. A portly alien marched towards them, a stick thin mammalian humanoid trailed behind him like an excited puppy. The chubby alien's face was nearly unreadable as he rubbed his beak with a stumpy hand.

"More of you," he remarked.

"You've seen others like us?" Harry asked.

The little alien seemed incensed that Harry had spoken to him, but continued the conversation with calculating eyes.

"Yes. Two males. One was big. Real big. Bizarre mark on his face. The other? His skin was strange and his ears pointed."

"They're with us," Harry smiled, "We're visiting this array to trade for some items we need."

"You  _Kabai_ grow bolder, or are you... _Ba'neen_?" the alien said the latter with caution.

"We're neither. We're from a place...far far away."

The alien absorbed this information, "So...are you wanting me to help find your two males, or do they own  _you_?"

"They neither own us or vice versa." Harry said.

The alien furrowed his brow, his beady eyes shining brightly.

"Tell me of the items you seek. I shall take you to a man better equipped to deal with stranger requests."

As the alien walked off, Harry and Celes followed suit.

"He's after something sir," Celes whispered.

"I know."

* * *

Chakotay and Vorik came to a large meeting place, full of dozens of species. Chakotay smirked that over two million light years from home, that haggling still took place as he spotted a Pterosaurian alien having a heated discussion with another turtle-like creature.

The Turtleman, as Chakotay had dubbed him appeared via another entrance, Harry and Celes in tow.

As their presence was noticed, the reaction was again stunned and hostile.

"I bring some  _Mal-tescheg_! They are on their own, and will make strong slaves!" The alien shouted.

"No...wait! We're not for sale!" Harry yelled.

"No one owns us. We're people!" Chakotay shouted as a large creature with several limbs suddenly grabbed both he and Vorik.

"Oooh...they're feisty!" said a smirking female alien.

"Danner Mer...You can have all four for four thousand tements." Turtleman grinned as much as he could with his beak.

A tall alien with bizarre pebbled skin, and extended face, three legs and dreadlocked hair loped forwards.

"A fair price. But I have so many mammals already...why would I need four more?"

Chakotay tried to speak, but the alien that held he and Vorik gagged him before he got the chance. Two large Raptor like creatures watched Harry and Celes, who had also been gagged.

"I think you former associate, Tambil Kel would appreciate receiving a nubile young thing like this, as an apology for your recent conduct." Turtleman pointed at Celes, who began to struggle.

"Three thousand tements." Danner Mer said.

"Three thousand five hundred."

"Three thousand two fifty. No higher."

"Sold." sneered Turtleman in delight.

A petite humanoid watched from a distance, scratching the skin on her face which had been irritated by the elaborate disguise she wore. Her mouth narrowed into a fine line and her expression grew angry as she saw how Chakotay's team was being treated. She watched to find out where Danner Mer would take his newest purchases before turning to leave.

Rage gripped Chakotay as their captors dragged them off towards a darkened tunnel. But struggling was getting him nowhere against the strong brutes who restrained him. Just as he resigned himself to his captivity and let himself be taken into the tunnel, Chakotay caught a glimpse of a petite woman with flowing auburn hair. There was something familiar about her, but he would have no time to ponder why.

He felt a needle prick the base of skull, and then there was darkness...


	11. Chapter 11

" _Campbell to Paris,"_ Lyssa's voice sounded over the intercom.

"Go ahead," Tom responded as he pressed a hypospray to Susan Nicoletti's neck.

" _The away team's missed their check-in, sir."_

Tom grimaced, closing his eyes for the briefest of seconds, "I'm on my way."

"Would you like me to proceed with the rest of the inoculations?" Nicoletti asked him, inclining her head towards a still-busy Doreen.

"Thanks, Susan," Tom gave her a small smile before turning and leaving sickbay.

* * *

"Try to hail them." Lyssa asked Billy Telfer.

"No response."

At that moment Tom arrived on the bridge, "Report."

Lyssa moved back up to tactical, relieving Ayala.

"Not much to tell, sir. They didn't make check-in...And they're not responding to hails."

Tom pursed his lips together. "We'll give them another hour. If they still don't check in, I want you and Mike to put together a tactical team and go after them."

"Aye, sir."

Tom stared at the image of the array on the screen, desperately trying to ignore the sickening feeling in his gut.

* * *

When Chakotay came to, he was greeted by an eerie silence. Blinking to wake up, he recoiled slightly, realising Turtleman's pet was staring at him intently, her nose nearly touching his.

As he began to speak, Chakotay was dismayed to realise he was tightly restrained, and that the choker placed round his neck was restricting his breathing slightly.

"Where am I?" he rasped.

"A room," she responded.

Chakotay took another look at her. She reminded him of an Andorian – if Andorians were more greyish in colour, had fine fur and were only about 4 feet tall.

"Where is this room?"

The woman shrugged her shoulders. "Merchandise room...Master must file paperwork before he accepts his tements."

"Lovely."

A groaning sound alerted him that Harry had woken up. Despite the restraints, Chakotay managed to turn round to face the younger man. He noted that Vorik and Celes were already awake, and similarly bound.

"How are you all holding up?"

"I've been better, sir," Harry sighed.

"I am uninjured," Vorik said, calm and cool as always.

"I'll be okay, sir," Celes' voice gave away her nervousness.

Chakotay turned to face the little woman again.

"What's your name?"

She pointed a finger at herself in surprise at being asked the question, "He calls me Tanda!"

"Well, Tanda, it's nice to meet you."

Tanda gave the away team a shy smile.

"How long will we be kept in here, Tanda?" Celes asked her.

"Master said there would be a delay. He has found more merchandise for Danner Mer."

"More merchandise? You mean more people?" Harry said.

"Uh huh...Whole ship...Very valuable...Master will sell the ship's crew in batches. He will keep the ship for himself. It is a strange ship. Very pretty."

Chakotay looked to Harry, before returning his attention to Tanda, "How did he find this ship?"

"In your minds...He used a device to look at your minds...Very pretty ship...Since he does not know where your owners are, he can claim your ship for himself."

"We don't have owners, Tanda." Chakotay tried to keep the anger from seeping into his voice, "We are sentient beings. We shouldn't have owners, and neither should you."

"Master keeps me well!" Tanda raised her voice, "He feeds me, clothes me, takes me places, talks to me."

"But he takes away your freedom!" Celes said, getting a little upset. She and Chakotay knew better than most just how important freedom was.

Tanda growled slightly, "Freedom does not matter, and Master will have your Voyager regardless."

With that, she scurried out of the room, leaving the away team alone.

* * *

Tom didn't like the sound Lyssa's console had just made.

"Tom, there's a small ship heading towards us. It's heavily armed and its weapons are fully charged."

"Raise shields, charge phasers, ready photon and quantum torpedoes."

"Aye, sir."

"Red alert!"

As the klaxon sounded, the ship moved into range, but it did not fire on them. Instead, a green light emerged from the front of the vessel, and passed through Voyager's shields.

"We're being scanned." Lyssa told him.

"Maintain our position...Let's hope they're being overly cautious about u-"

Tom never got a chance to finish his sentence, as he was suddenly beamed off of the bridge...

* * *

"Tom...Tom...C'mon  _P'takh_...wake up!"

Tom opened his eyes to see B'Elanna staring down at him. He was restrained, and he could see that B'Elanna was too, although not as heavily, and Tom noted with some relief that Miral was sitting next to them.

"What happened?"

B'Elanna managed to help Tom to sit up, and then he noticed several faces staring back at him. Chakotay, Harry, Vorik, Celes, Phoebe and Sekaya were all similarly bound.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Harry smirked.

"How long have we been here?"

Chakotay sighed, "You were all brought here about two hours ago...B'Elanna, Phoebe and Sekaya all woke up within a few minutes."

Tom grimaced, "Where is  _here_?"

Harry spoke, "We both had encounters with some of the Andromedian natives...They didn't seem to like us much...But we both spoke to a strange little man...He waited until we were all in the one place and then he and some of his associates captured us."

"He's going to sell us as slaves," Celes spat.

"So what do we do?"

"We ran over this while you were having your nap," B'Elanna smirked at her husband, "There's nothing we can do...the room's sealed."

"So we're just gonna sit here?" Tom said with exasperation, "Chakotay...You're certain there's nothing we can do?"

Chakotay failed to respond.

"Chakotay?"

Chakotay, who had been in a world of his own, tuned back into the conversation.

"Sorry...I was just thinking about something."

Upon seeing the faces of his fellow captives, he elaborated, "Just as we were captured by Turtleman, I saw a woman standing in the square...She was out of the way, as though she were trying to remain hidden...As we were dragged off, she walked away...She's been stuck in my mind...There was something so familiar about her."

"Chakotay...We're over two million light years from home...It's just a coincidence, or whatever they drugged us with made her seem familiar," B'Elanna reasoned.

"You're probably right," he chuckled lightly, obviously not convinced.

The group stopped talking abruptly as the door to the room opened. Turtleman, Danner Mer and several aliens reminiscent of the Voth walked in.

"Here are the four you already purchased, as well as the batch you picked out from the crew," Turtleman said to Danner.

"I shall give you three thousand tements for them, even with the payment for the other four."

"A fair price...but what of the infant?"

"You expect me to pay for the infant?" Danner bristled, and Turtleman backed away.

"I...of course not!" Turtleman replied nervously.

"We're not for sale," B'Elanna growled.

"You are mammals...You must have an owner...After all, you are wild animals that need to be controlled...I am doing my  _Tescheg_ duty by buying you," Danner sneered, patronizing B'Elanna.

Tom watched her behaviour, begging her to keep her temper. She seemed to sense his concern, and backed down a little bit.

"Chain them," Danner instructed his henchmen, "I'm taking them to Exchange prior to my departure."

* * *

Chakotay tried to appear outwardly calm as rage seethed within him. They'd been led through a honeycomb of tunnels within the array, and occasionally they could see into the other tunnels. Chakotay had been disturbed to see many familiar faces from Voyager being marched along in a similar matter to him and the senior officers.

Finally, they were led to a dark and dirty room and were forced to sit on wooden chairs at the end farthest from the door. Miral, who had been quiet until now, began to cry and bombard B'Elanna with questions. One of the guards yelled at the toddler to be quiet, and B'Elanna had growled loudly in response. The guard glared at her, before sitting down a few metres away, where he trained his weapon on Miral's head. A few seconds later, the other guards shackled them to the chairs, and walked away. One they had left the room, Miral once again began to cry quietly, and Chakotay noticed B'Elanna blink back tears too. Miral was strapped to her lap, and B'Elanna's hands were tied to the chair. She couldn't even cradle her daughter to soothe her fears.

The large door they'd come through moments earlier creaked open, and Danner Mer and a cloaked figure came into the room.

"There they are, my latest mammalian acquisitions...I hope a few of them will be to your taste, Tambil Kel."

Chakotay's mind went back to the Bergamo as they'd been docking at the array. He'd been the man to welcome them to the depot.

Kel was completely covered, not one part of his body visible, but he appeared to be humanoid.

"Fine specimens, but I can get some worse-for-wear stock for a fraction of the cost."

"Ah, but you would have to feed them up...These mammals are already conditioned, and as you can see, they can be bred," Danner pointed a finger at B'Elanna and Miral.

"Hmm..."

Tambil Kel walked slightly closer to the crew, though he remained several metres from them.

"I am somewhat curious, Kel, that you came down here to personally view this stock, given your usual love of privacy."

"Well, my curiosity was piqued."

Danner began to circle Kel.

"You know, I have always considered you one of my closest associates, and this is the first time we've ever met in person."

"I'm a private man, you know that."

Danner sniggered menacingly, "You know...You've been head of inbound operations here for several turns now...But attacks and raids by the Kabai and the Ba'neen have only increased during that time...The Ba'neen have no quarrel with us, only the Kabai and others like them...Why have they been coming here then?"

"If I knew, I'd have stopped it."

Chakotay noted the tiniest of trembles in Kel's voice.

"I don't believe you."

Danner had picked up on Kel's nervousness too.

"Show me your face, Kel."

"No."

"Show me your face!"

Kel was silent.

Danner growled and clicked his fingers. Three of the guards returned.

"You will show me face yourself, or I will kill you."

Kel's back was to Chakotay, but Chakotay could see Kel remove the cloak from his face, and Danner was visibly shocked.

"Kel to Danzil...Go!"

Chakotay realised that Kel had hailed someone, but within a few seconds, Kel was on the floor, and one of the guards was pounding him in the face.

"Who did you contact?!" Danner was enraged, "Who?!"

Shouting could be heard coming from the corridor, and Danner went outside to investigate.

"Stay here!"

Chakotay glanced at the rest of his officers, knowing that they were powerless to take advantage of what had just happened.

There was a loud scream from outside, and Chakotay knew it was Danner. Seconds later, five figures clad in black and wearing headgear reminiscent of motorcycle helmets burst into the room. They began to fight with the three guards, and Tambil Kel also got to his feet, kicking and punching the aliens. The struggle was short, and within moments the guards were all incapacitated.

Chakotay looked at the aliens who had attacked their captors. They were clearly humanoid, dressed in a leather-like material. Their faces were completely hidden by their helmets, obviously they were a covert people.

One of them ran to help Kel, who was bloodied and beaten, and Chakotay managed to look at Kel.

He was stunned to see that Kel was a mammal, very similar in appearance to a Bajoran, with a series of ridges on his nose.

"I'll get Kel to safety," one of the helmet-clad men told the others before leading Kel out into the corridors.

Once he was gone, the remaining four concentrated their attention on Chakotay and the others. Chakotay felt trepidation grip at his stomach. Were these people their saviours, or were they only interested in enslaving them like Turtleman and Danner.

One of the figures – a woman – stepped forward, and removed her helmet.

"We'll have plenty of time to chat later, but if you want to live, I'd suggest we get moving."

Chakotay never heard Phoebe or Celes gasp in shock, as his eyes met those of their rescuer...

Kathryn Janeway...


	12. Chapter 12

As the three helmeted figures moved forward, Chakotay's eyes remained fixed on Janeway.

He barely heard B'Elanna thank their rescuers as their bindings were removed.

"Who are you?"

"I'm afraid I don't have a medical tricorder with me Captain, and neither do you it appears...As I said, we'll talk later."

Chakotay was now free, but unlike most of his officers, he refused to move. Only he and Phoebe remained seated.

"This is a trick."

"Chakotay-"

"You died...There was a body...There's a grave..."

"Yes I did die..." Kathryn's gaze moved towards Phoebe, who looked to be in shock, before she turned back to look at him, "...but I was saved...I'll explain once we're safely out of  _Tescheg_ range...Now  _move_!"

Chakotay glared at Kathryn, if that's who she really was, and grudgingly he got to his feet.

"Alright. Lead the way."

* * *

As Chakotay, his crew, 'Kathryn' and their rescuers made their way once more through the honeycomb of tunnels, Phoebe could hear shouting and screaming. More masked figures ran through the tunnels, some accompanied by members of the crew.

Phoebe's mind was swimming back to darker places: her sister's death; the Dominion War; So many regrets.

How could Kathryn be here. In another galaxy. Alive? Her mind raced. Could she have been transported through subspace when her shuttle's hull had breached? Could she have been cloned? Was it a transporter accident?

But was she really Kathryn? Was she an alien? Was she a Q in disguise?

"This way." Janeway barked, ordering the crew around a corner.

She certainly sounded like Kathryn.

But why hadn't she spoken to her?

Maybe she  _was_  an imposter, and didn't know that Phoebe was her sister?

Or maybe Kathryn had guessed that Mom had finally told her the truth. A fresh wave of regret washed over her, and she blinked back tears.

* * *

"Why aren't we being met with resistance?" Chakotay questioned Janeway.

"Tambil Kel is in charge of this station's security. Without him, they can't mount any force to counter us."

"You're inside man is the security chief?" Tom asked.

"Well it isn't the first time I've used that tactic," Kathryn smirked, referring to Tuvok's infiltration of Chakotay's Maquis ship.

"Don't worry about the rest of your crew Captain Chakotay. We're taking them back to your ship," one of their rescuers spoke.

Kathryn tapped the man's helmet, and moment's later the visor retracted, revealing a young man with piercing lime green eyes.

"This is Danzil. Leader of this Clan," she introduced them.

"It's an honour to meet you Chakotay," he smiled, "Qatala has spoken very fondly of you, and your crew."

"Qatala?" Harry asked.

"Long story," Kathryn smiled weakly.

Moments later, a loud klaxon sounded. Kathryn, Danzil and the two remaining masked men upped their pace.

"Kel's Second in Command is at his post. The guards will be after us...We've got to move!" she urged.

The sound of angry shouting and weapons fire began to resound in the corridors they'd been in moments earlier, and Miral began to cry.

"Mommy, what's going on? Are bad people coming?"" she cried.

"It's alright sweetie...Everything's okay," B'Elanna tried to comfort Miral as the group broke into a run.

"It's a straight run to our transport so move!" Danzil shouted as a company of guards emerged from a corridor less than 10 metres away.

The guards began to fire, and luckily their aim was poor at best. Harry and Tom who brought up the rear managed to dodge their fire with ease.

Soon, everyone had made it into the transport, and Danzil closed the airlock behind them. The two masked men made their way to the cockpit, removing their masks. Like Danzil and Kel, they were mammalian. One appeared to be the same species as Danzil, while the other looked similar to a Betazoid, with pure black eyes.

"Plot in a course to Voyager," Kathryn said to Danzil.

"Course laid in."

"And step on it."

* * *

Chakotay eyed 'Kathryn' with increasing skepticism and hostility. He exchanged furtive glances with his crew. B'Elanna and Tom were busy making sure Miral was okay. Phoebe was visibly upset and had her eyes trained on the back of 'Kathryn's' head. Harry met Chakotay's gaze, and saw his own concerns mirrored in the younger man's eyes.

Finally he turned to Sekaya, who had been silent throughout this recent turn of events. Her expression was unreadable,but he knew his little sister was studying him closely, trying to anticipate his next move.

 _And counter my decision if necessary._ He thought to himself as he met Sekaya's piercing gaze.

Chakotay brought himself to look through one of the small viewports of 'Kathryn's' shuttle. He could make out a dozen or so similar vessels. Four or five larger vessels of varying configurations held off the fire of some small dart-like vessels that seemed to be emerging from every metallic fold of the array.

"We're nearly there," Kathryn announced.

Chakotay now looked forward and saw Voyager, shining brightly against all the lack-lustre, tarnished vessels he had just seen.

But something was wrong.

Voyager's deflector, nacelles, ram scoops and impulse engines were darkened.

What the hell had Turtleman and Danner Mer done to Voyager?

* * *

As their ship approached Voyager's shuttlebay, 'Kathryn' took the controls and eased the shuttle in with expert precision.

A few moments later, they all disembarked.

"I'm afraid it took us a little time to locate where Danner Mer had arranged to collect Voyager. In that time a number of key components were taken from the ship so we'll need to get them back. We had some of our men do a quick inventory, and the following items are missing-"

They were at the door of the shuttlebay, and Chakotay nodded to Harry, knowing that he would interpret his order correctly. The lieutenant commander slipped off quietly, going unnoticed by 'Kathryn', Danzil and their associates.

"- The computer core, the aft phaser array, the photon torpedoes and the quantum torpedoes."

Chakotay sensed that Harry had returned, and flitted him a quick look, realising that yes, Harry did know him too well. Grabbing one of the compression phaser rifles from him, he spoke up.

"Let us worry about our missing components, but for now," he pointed the phaser at their 'rescuers', "I have to insist that we escort you to our brig."

'Kathryn' pursed her lips, and Chakotay realised she'd been expecting this.

"And I take it I'll be hauled off to sickbay," she stated flatly.

"It's just a precaution, you understand," he responded just as calmly.

The aliens had also been expecting this, and offered no resistance.

Before they exited the shuttlebay, Chakotay checked how many crew were onboard. Over one hundred officers were onboard, and Chakotay noticed another two ships arriving, a further two behind them.

"Chakotay to all security officers onboard. Escort our new alien 'friends' to the brig and take emergency stations."

As they left the shuttlebay, he listed his orders.

"B'Elanna, take Miral back to your quarters. Sekaya, you're responsible for personnel. I want headcounts from all departments and I want you to question as many department heads as you can as to what their groups' experiences were. Harry, you and I will take Mr. Danzil and his friends to the brig. Tom, Phoebe...accompany 'Kathryn' to sickbay."

"Yes sir."

Chakotay realised it may be a bit harsh, assigning Phoebe to sickbay, but if anyone was going to be able to determine if this Kathryn was a fake, it was going to be her little sister.

But Chakotay refused to hear out the voice in his mind that was pleading for this Kathryn to be the one that he'd loved and lost.


	13. Chapter 13

"Qatala told us we might get a hostile reception," Danzil said quietly from the cell he and his associates shared.

"Did she?" Chakotay's first question was rhetorical. His second was not.

"Why do you call her Qatala?"

"Our peoples have a policy. We only keep our names for four econs before we change them. It makes it harder for the  _Tescheg_ races to follow individuals. When we first encountered Qatala, her name was Kathryn. Her second term with us began one econ ago."

"Sounds plausible, given what we know of you. But why Qatala? I've known Kathryn for years. Why would she assume a name we don't know and then actively seek us out?"

"That's the whole point of changing our names periodically," Danzil sighed, his lime green irises changing to bottle green, betraying his emotions.

"Who are you?" Lyssa stepped forward.

"We are the Kabai."

"That doesn't answer my question," she stared at the young man, and Chakotay sincerely hoped he'd made a wise choice in making her security chief.

"The Kabai are a group of mammalian races. We band together for security, and to free mammals from slavery at the hands of  _Tescheg_ and other reptilian groups."

"So are you a loose alliance of races, or are you more organised?"

"We have an uncodified constitution, but we do have a code of honour and laws we must follow."

"Why rescue us?"

"You are mammals. You had been captured by some pretty nasty people...Qatala was stunned to find you here, and explained that you were her people. Under our laws, that immediately makes you our ally as one of your number aligned herself to us of her own will."

"We've yet to see any evidence that she is our Kathryn Janeway," Harry interjected.

"I'm afraid all you can do is talk to her, and perform some tests."

Danzil got up and paced the cell. "And since you wish us to be honest with you, we also decided to help in order to stop our enemies gaining any technologies they could use against us...We need allies like you in both our struggles."

"Both your struggles?" This perturbed Lyssa.

"One against the  _Tescheg_ , and another against a bigger threat. You need not concern yourself with the other. Their agenda is very specific."

" _Bridge to Chakotay,"_ Tom's voice sounded over the intercom,  _"All crew are present and accounted for. Celes has managed to pinpoint the locations of our missing components."_

"Acknowledged. We'll be right there," Chakotay sighed, relieved to hear that his crew was safe for the moment. "Senior officers, report to the briefing room."

* * *

A few minutes later, Chakotay, Tom, Harry, Vorik, Lyssa, Sekaya, and Celes sat in the briefing room.

"Our missing components are scattered throughout the array," Celes stated, pointing to various highlighted areas on the schematic.

"Our top priority should be the computer core," said Harry, "We've got most systems routed through backups, but we're still functioning at minimum capacity. If any of our friends at the array try to retaliate, we'll be in no shape to put up a fight."

"Even with the computer core, we won't be able to defend ourselves. We only have three functioning phaser arrays, and operating them in a fight would overload our backups."

Chakotay took in the information. Bottom line was that they needed all of Voyager's components back if they were to survive.

"Harry, you and I will go after the computer core...Lyssa, Celes, find the aft phaser array...Vorik, take Teg and retrieve the photon torpedoes. We'll attempt to retrieve the quantum torpedoes at a later date. They can only be armed by Voyager command officers, thus it will take the aliens a long time to figure out how to work them...Tom, I need you to assist Doreen and Phoebe in finding out who 'Kathryn' really is. Sekaya, work with Astall and Chell. We can't afford a morale crisis at the moment."

Chakotay looked around at his officers, knowing that they would all support him. They'd all been through too much together.

"Thank you. Dismissed."

* * *

Kathryn studied Phoebe from the other side of the sickbay forcefield. Her younger sister met her gaze with caution, clearly disturbed at seeing her. The EMH, Doreen buzzed around her with a medical tricorder.

"As far as I can tell, she is Kathryn Janeway. However there could be some genetic foulplay at work that is not included in my program. I suggest a more qualified physician also conduct an examination."

"Doreen. I told you already. Jarem Kaz isn't here. Why do you think Tom was assisting you earlier?" Phoebe said, frustration evident in her voice.

"I have already erased my memory engrams for the past several days."

Phoebe hit her fist off of the control console before she paced the room, sighing as she went.

"If it will make you feel better, I shall double-check my analysis. However I am a holoprogram, and holoprograms do not make mistakes."

"Yes, they do," Kathryn stated, referring to Voyager's original Doctor, "Sometimes they even apologise for making them."

"Unlikely," Doreen stated blankly, walking towards the med-lab.

Kathryn's eyes once again met Phoebe's.

"Pheebs...You have to believe that it's me. I can't imagine how upsetting this is for you, or how confusing it must be for you, but it  _is_  me. I am your sister."

"I helped mom identify your body, Katie."

Kathryn bit her lip and blinked back tears, turning away from the younger woman.

"Pheebs-"

"And don't think you've got the right to call me your sister. You never had that right!" Phoebe spat angrily.

Kathryn spun to look at her.

"Yeah, Katie! Mom told me...She told me-"

Phoebe was interrupted by Tom and Sam Wildman arriving.

"Told you what, Phoebe? What!?"

"I...I..." Phoebe turned to Tom, "Permission to be excused?"

"Granted," Tom said, putting a hand on Phoebe's shoulder, "Go get some rest or get something to eat."

Tom had barely gotten the words out of his mouth before Phoebe ran off. Tom flashed Kathryn a concerned look before getting on with his job.

"Doreen, have you got any DNA samples you haven't used yet?"

"Samples from Admiral Janeway? Yes. There are two samples next to the electron scanner."

"I'm wanting to run some tests in the science labs to determine if the Admiral is who she says she is," said Sam, cautiously glancing in Kathryn's direction.

"Of course," Doreen nodded before returning to collect the samples. She returned a moment later, handing them to Sam.

After Sam had left and Doreen had returned to the med-lab, Tom turned to Kathryn.

"Hello, Admiral," he smiled.

"Hello, Tom," Kathryn responded carefully.

"Fancy meeting you in this neck of the woods."

"Believe me...No one was as surprised as I...I was expecting to live out the rest of my life without seeing another human."

Tom nodded silently, seemingly picking his words with care.

"What happened?" he asked with genuine concern.

"You believe me?" Kathryn said feeling her spirits rise a little.

Again Tom nodded wordlessly.

"I think I do...Your death never sunk in...I never felt like I'd grieved for a lost friend...I kept expecting you to call via subspace one day, or for B'Elanna to mention having lunch with you. It never felt like you were gone."

Kathryn looked to the ground, relieved that at least one of her friends believed her.

A moment passed where neither said anything, before Tom repeated his previous question.

"What happened, Kathryn?"

"It'd take too long to explain, Tom. I was in a shuttle, we got hit by fire from a trigger-happy Reman scout ship. The next thing I knew, I was someplace else. A friend had saved me from death, but in a roundabout way I'd been robbed of my humanity. I was forbidden from returning home, and eventually I found myself here."

"Who was your friend?"

"You wouldn't believe me," Kathryn responded ruefully.

"I have to ask...I am this ship's First Officer after all."

"There could be repercussions if I tell you."

"Aren't you at all curious as to how  _we_  got out here?"

"I think I know my friend well enough to know that she's behind your sudden relocation from the quiet galactic suburbs to this rather tougher urban locale."

Tom chuckled a little at Kathryn's description of the two galaxies.

"It was the female Q," she finally admitted.

"That's what I thought," Tom said soberly.

Tom paced a little before continuing, "Can we trust your friends?"

"Yes, you can...They've come through for me more than once...I owe them my life."

"I believe you, Admiral. You know me...I got reincarnated as an optimist ten years ago," Tom grinned, "However, I do have to perform these tests...Sadly, there are still a lot of cynics and pessimists onboard."

Tom sighed, looking around sickbay. The ship was still in a state of disarray, and there was no security present. But Tom trusted his gut instinct.

And this is what Kathryn was counting on.

As the forcefield came down, Tom stepped forward, hypospray in hand.

"You know the routine. This will tingle a little bit and you might feel some discomfort at first."

Kathryn nodded, allowing Tom to press the hypospray to her neck. It was then she seized her opportunity, bringing her elbow up to hit Tom right on the side of the chin, ensuring she'd used enough force to knock him unconscious.

As Tom his the ground, Doreen emerged from her office.

"Computer, disable the EMH. Authorisation: Janeway Pi Omega Four Seven."

Knowing the ship like she did, Kathryn quickly located the tiny weapons locker concealed behind biobed two and armed herself with a type-2 phaser, before grabbing a conventional tricorder from an instrument tray.

As she opened the sickbay Jefferies tube hatch, she turned to look at Tom's prone form on the floor of the medical bay.

"I'm sorry, Tom, but I have to do this."

With that she left sickbay, intent on helping her Kabai shipmates as well as her old crew.


	14. Chapter 14

Chakotay and Harry quickly ran through their pre-flight onboard the Delta Flyer  _Cuillin._

"Chakotay to the Bridge. De-pressurise the Shuttlebay and open the space doors."

" _Aye sir."_

" _Cuillin_ to  _Catalan_ and  _Benmore._ We'll take the lead and you follow in a standard alpha formation. Try to maintain radio silence but keep an open com channel."

" _Aye sir,"_ was the curt response from both Lyssa and Vorik.

"Both the other Flyers are ready to go," Harry informed Chakotay.

Chakotay nodded, taking the  _Cuillin_  out of the bay.

* * *

"You sure you don't mind giving me a hand?" Naomi said to Megan and Jenny Delaney.

"Not at all Naomi," Megan – or was it Jenny – smiled back at the cadet. "Stellar Cartography's pretty much useless until we can get more data about the area of space we're in, and we need astrometrics to gather the data."

With Celes off the ship, Naomi had been left solely in charge of Astrometrics which, given Voyager's new location, was easily one of the most crucial departments on the ship. Naomi had managed to recruit the help of the "Stellar Cartography Sirens" to help her compile a more detailed map of their sector of the galaxy.

"We've already amassed a huge amount of information about this area of space," Jenny – no, Megan – said enthusiastically. "It seems our captors unwittingly deposited a lot of data into our memory banks."

"They must have done that so they could pre-program the autopilot to take them directly to certain locations." Jenny reasoned.

"Sure looks that way – Wait...there's an encrypted data block."

"Run encryption algorithm fourteen beta kappa to see if you can gain access to it," Naomi advised.

Nodding, Jenny tried to implement the sequence.

" _Unable to complete sequence due to pathway incoherence in the secondary astrometric command processors."_ the computer informed them.

"Damned gel packs." Jenny sighed.

Walking around to the steps up to the raised level, Naomi removed a bulkhead to examine the damaged systems. As she removed the panel, a small EM bolt hit her hand.

"Aah!" she shrieked, clutching at her hand.

"Naomi?! You okay?" Megan rushed up to her.

"I think so," Naomi said, wincing at the sight of her hand, which was badly burned. "My hands hurts pretty bad."

"Megan, take her to sickbay. I'll get a crew down to look at the damage."

Megan nodded, but Naomi shook her head. "We need this map as soon as possible...I'll go myself. It's only a few decks up."

* * *

A few minutes later, Naomi arrived in sickbay. She had her eyes screwed shut, trying to block out the painful sensations in her hand.

"Computer, activate the EMH."

" _Unable to comply. The EMH system has been disabled."_

Naomi opened her eyes, and saw Tom Paris on the floor, slowly blinking back to consciousness.

"Commander?!"

"Wow...uh..." he said, clearly disoriented.

"Wildman to bridge, Admiral Janeway has escaped!"

* * *

"It looks like the section where the phaser array is isn't being guarded as heavily as the others," Celes informed Lyssa while scanning beyond the door they were sat at.

"They probably haven't figured out how to work it yet, or they're not sure what it is."

Celes nodded, "There's only three people in this section. We can stun them, set up the transport enhancers and beam it onto the  _Benmore._ "

"Only problem with that plan is that we need someone to be on the _Benmore_ to initiate transport," Lyssa sighed.

"We could contact one of the other teams...See if either of them are still onboard their Flyers."

Lyssa nodded. While they'd been told to maintain silence, she knew it was a better idea then physically carrying the phaser bank back to the shuttle.

"Campbell to Vorik."

" _Vorik here."_

"Commander, are you still in your Flyer?"

" _Affirmative. Ensign Teg and I are yet to find a secure dock for our vessel."_

"We've located the phaser array. There are only a few people nearby. We could set up the transport enhancers and you could beam it onboard the  _Catalan._ We could then return to the  _Benmore_ and do the same for you when you locate the photon torpedoes."

" _That would be preferable to both our teams splitting up. We will hold our position until we can transport the phaser array to our vessel."_

"Thanks Vorik. Campbell out."

Lyssa turned to Celes, knowing how nervous the young Bajoran could be.

"You up for this?"

"After being tied up by them for the best part of the day? I'm  _more_ than ready for a little payback!"

"Set your phaser to stun. I'll go in first. You watch my butt and keep a lookout in case our scans have failed to pick up anyone."

"Yes sir."

Lyssa gave Celes a quick nod, before tapping the panel of the door separating them from the phaser bank.

Celes held back as Lyssa ducked away from the fire from an energy weapon. Doing a ground roll, Lyssa immediately shot one of the guards before spinning round and shooting another. Celes realised the other guard was about to sneak up on Lyssa but she shot him before he got the chance to fire. Both Lyssa and Celes remained still for a minute, before Celes once again checked her tricorder.

Sighing and glaring at one of the disabled reptilian guards, Lyssa got up and quickly made a bee-line for the more than a little conspicuous federation component. At over a metre in height and two metres in width, it was easy to locate.

Celes quickly grabbed the tripodal transport enhancers they'd left at the doorway and set them up.

"Campbell to Vorik. Enhancers are in place."

Standing back, Lyssa and Celes watched the component disappear in the familiar white-blue glow of the transporter.

" _Vorik to Campbell. We have the aft phaser array secured in our cargo hold."_

"Thank you Vorik. We're returning to the  _Benmore._  Hail us when you've located the photon torpedoes."

* * *

"I take umbrage to being deactivated with such ease," Doreen huffed as B'Elanna buzzed around her. "How long will it be before I can physically pick up objects again? I cannot do my job if I am unable to hold a tricorder!"

"It won't be long Doreen. Whatever the Admiral did to disable your program destabilised your matrix. You'll be back to normal within an hour or so."

"What happened?" Sekaya asked Tom who was attending to Naomi's hand.

"I'd been talking to her and told her I needed some more samples for Doreen's tests. The minute I pressed the hypospray to her neck she elbowed me. Knocked me out cold."

B'Elanna smirked a little at her husband, "You're slipping flyboy. It's one thing for me, the half-Klingon being able to beat you up a little bit. It's quite another when a five foot five, forty-something can deck you."

"That's if she's even human," Tom sighed, not in the mood for a joke. "She had me convinced she was Kathryn Janeway...Oh who am I kidding, I had  _myself_ convinced before I'd even looked at the test results."

"Maybe she had to do what she did?" Naomi remarked. "Maybe there's even more going on here than we think."

B'Elanna looked at Naomi, "Maybe you're right."

"No...No way," said Tom, "There is no way Kathryn Janeway could knock me out...Not a chance!"

"Sure Flyboy," B'Elanna grinned.

Tom leveled a mock glare at his better half.

"Better check up on our guests in the brig just to double-check."

Tom nodded, "Paris to Ayala."

No response.

"Mike, please respond...Computer, locate Lieutenant Michael Ayala."

" _Lieutenant Ayala is in the Brig."_

"Security. Send a team to cargo bay two."

* * *

" _Vorik to Campbell. We have located twenty of our missing photon torpedoes."_

"Twenty? We had thirty in our complement."

" _I am aware of that, but we have been unable to locate the other ten. There is not enough room on our Flyer for all the torpedoes."_

"Captain Chakotay doubted we'd get many of the photons back, given how basic their operation is," Celes interjected.

Lyssa nodded, before responding to Vorik.

"Ensign Tal will transport over to the  _Catalan_ to assist with the transport."

" _Acknowledged. We will divide the torpedoes into two batches and will hail you when we need to request transport. We will be using micro-enhancers, so please change to a higher bandwidth to detect our signal."_

"Yes sir."

Lyssa quickly calibrated the transporter sensors.

"You ready to beam over?" She asked Celes who simply nodded.

Lyssa input the commands, and Celes disappeared in the beam.

" _Tal to Campbell. I'm onboard the_ Catalan."

" _Vorik to Campbell. Transport enhancers are in place."_

"Acknowledged. Initiating transport."

A moment later, the  _Benmore_ was seemingly filled with torpedoes.

"Campbell to Vorik. I've got them."

Campbell waited a few moments for Vorik to respond.

" _Acknowledged Lieutenant. The remaining photons have been beamed to the_ Catalan."

Campbell smiled, locking on to Celes to bring her back.

"Why does this always happen to me?" Mike sighed in defeat.

Andrews smirked a little, "So you're always on brig duty during breakouts...You must have friendly and trustworthy face."

"Andrews. I want your team to search this ship deck by deck. Find out where the Kabai went," Tom ordered.

After Andrews and the other officers left, Mike Ayala turned to Tom.

"Tom I'm sorry...I don't know how they managed it."

"Mike it's okay...Janeway...or whoever she really was, managed to escape while I was there, so don't feel guilty. We'll find them."

" _Telfer to Paris. A Type Eight Shuttlecraft is missing."_

"What? How did we not detect it?"

" _Apparently it's launch was concealed using a level twelve security clearance."_

"Level twelve. Admirals and above," Tom sighed.

* * *

"Danzil. Any luck locating those quantum torpedoes yet?" Kathryn asked the young man.

"Not yet."

"We have to locate them quickly. If we're to make an ally of Voyager," one of the other Kabai, a man named Corval noted.

"I'm not doing this to make Voyager an ally," Kathryn said, "Obviously I'd rather we were allies from the get-go, but after they're here for a few weeks, they won't have much choice."

"Won't you be wanting to rejoin your old crew?" Danzil asked.

"I wish I could...Somehow I don't think there's a place for me there anymore...There's also the fact I assaulted Tom and Mike Ayala...Something I definitely wouldn't have done before my 'reincarnation'."

Sensing the sadness in Kathryn's voice, Danzil turned to her, "We can cut you loose when your workers' contract expires. That's only an econ away."

"I don't know if they'll have me back..."

Their conversation was interrupted by the beeping of the aft console.

"I've located the quantum torpedoes."

"Take us in."

* * *

"The  _Benmore_ and the  _Catalan_ are returning to Voyager," Harry informed Chakotay."But I still can't get a lock on the computer core."

The computer core was far too big a component for Chakotay and Harry to carry off the array. In fact B'Elanna had had to cut out the flyer's mini-medlab in order to make room for the supercomputer.

Harry's console beeped. "What the? A Type Eight shuttlecraft is heading towards the array?"

"Can we hail Voyager?" Chakotay asked.

"No sir."

Harry's console beeped again. "I'm reading a number of Kabai on the shuttle, and one human – Admiral Janeway."

"Get that computer core beamed onboard. Be creative if you have to. I'm charging our weapons. We're going after them."


	15. Chapter 15

"Qatala...the Voyager shuttle has locked on to our location," Corval said.

Kathryn rolled her eyes. She'd been expecting this.

"Open a channel to them,"

"Flyer _Cuillin,_ this is the shuttlecraft  _Baikal_ , Chakotay...we're both on the same side here...Don't do anything foolish."

"Qatala," Chakotay refused to call her Kathryn, "We are merely going after our own components. If you have Admiral Janeway's memories and experience you'll know that I cannot allow you to retrieve our technology unless I break the Prime Directive."

" _Chakotay...It's me...I know you don't believe me, but I am here...I'm not dead. We know you're still trying to retrieve your computer core. Let us get some of your torpedoes as a gesture of goodwill."_

Chakotay hit the mute button.

"What do you think?" he asked Harry.

"I say we let them...It's a type-eight shuttlecraft...Quantum torpedoes aren't compatible with their systems...They'll only have room for three or four of the torpedoes at most, and we can easily outgun them if need be."

Chakotay reluctantly nodded.

" _Cuillin_  to  _Baikal_...proceed. Return the torpedoes to Voyager. If you fail to do that, we'll consider it an act of aggression. Chakotay out."

" _Acknowledged."_

A few moments later, Harry's console beeped ominously.

"Some ships are emerging from the array...their weapons are charged."

"Transport was successful," Danzil announced unnecessarily.

"I'd never have guessed," Kathryn smirked, looking back at the three torpedoes that took up the entire rear of the shuttle.

"Three Sentara class Sentinels have emerged from the array...They're heading for Captain Chakotay's shuttle," Corval announced.

" _Janeway to Chakotay...We see you've got company. Danzil is sending you a shield modification to protect you from the Sentinels' volleys. Don't hesitate in destroying those ships. Any lifesigns you pick up are decoys. Sentinels are unmanned killing machines."_

"Acknowledged."

"Can we trust them? For all we know, this is a trap!" Harry voiced his Captain's concerns.

A strike from the lead Sentinel hit them. The intense electrical pulse made the hair on the back of Chakotay's neck stick up, and smoke began the rise from the consoles.

Moments later, another bolt hit the shuttle. More smoke began to rise from the consoles which were now hot to touch. A strange, painful sensation now enveloped Chakotay.

"I don't think we've got a choice...implement the modification."

"Done."

The next pulse hit, and aside from a little turbulence, the shuttle incurred no further damage.

"Bizarre weapon," Harry said, rubbing his stomach, "I think it was designed to slowly cook us to death."

"Baikal _to_ Cuillin _...Are you alright?"_

"We're fine."

" _We're sending you another shield modification. Those Sentinels will have relayed your response to their mainframe which will calculate their next move, then give them their orders."_

Chakotay looked out of the  _Cuillin's_  viewer. He could see where the Sentinels had retreated to. They circled space menacingly before luminescing an almost Borg shade of green.

" _They've opted for a heavy-handed response Chakotay...Those Sentinels now carry a virus that can cause a ship to self- destruct in less than three seconds...Get back to Voyager!"_

"They've never dealt with our ships before...The virus might not work."

" _Are you willing to stake your life on that theory?"_

Chakotay bit his lip as the  _Baikal_ went to warp and disappeared.

"They're coming into range, Chakotay," Harry said.

"Get us out of here."

Ten minutes later both ships had returned to Voyager and the Kabai were now under guard in Cargo Bay Two.

"We're not going to hold you or your men, Danzil," Tom said. "We've spoken to Mike and he says it was only 'Janeway' that attacked him."

"You stopped us from getting fried out there, and you returned three of our torpedoes," Chakotay said quietly. "You're free to go, on the condition that you hand Qatala over to us."

Danzil turned to Kathryn who nodded in resignation. "I was expecting that, too."

Danzil was clearly annoyed, but Chakotay knew he had no choice but to cooperate. "Alright, but you'll still need our help to get the rest of your torpedoes and your computer core."

"We know," Chakotay said curtly, leveling a faint glare at Danzil.

"Tell us what you know about those sentinels," Lyssa Campbell demanded.

"No one knows more about the Sentinels than Qatala," Danzil responded, nodding in Kathryn's direction.

Taking the hint, Kathryn stepped forward, ignoring the compression phaser rifles that were pointed at her back, Kathryn began to speak.

"The confederate that runs that array have always used Sentinels to protect it. However they have only recently begun to use the Sentara class models.

"They weren't deployed when we initially escaped from the array as they're only used for search and destroy missions. Their first volley uses a new technology and produces an effect similar to what would happen if you were to be exposed to microwaves. The orders of their other volleys vary, but they rarely use the same attack type more than once in an attack on the same target. The first attack is characterised by the reddish colour of the Sentinels' hulls. The other type of attack you witnessed was a viral attack. We've yet to develop a defense to this attack, but it transmits a virus to our ships, causing the self-destruct to be detonated. This attack is indicated by a neon green colouring. Another common type of attack is a more conventional one, using disruptors. This is indicated by blue."

"There are more types of attack, but you'll likely not encounter them."

Chakotay nodded at Kathryn before turning to Danzil. "Are you willing to help us get back our technology?"

Danzil's eyes flitted to Kathryn, and then back to Chakotay. "Yes."

"Alright...here's the plan. Lyssa, Vorik. You take one flyer while Harry and I take another. Danzil...you and one of your men will also take a flyer...Their operation is virtually identical to that of a conventional shuttle...Our first goal is to get our computer core. Again, that is what Harry and I will go after with cover fire from the other two flyers. Next, Lyssa and Vorik will get the torpedoes back, with cover fire from the Kabai and ourselves...Agreed?"

Chakotay looked at his senior officers as they nodded in agreement. Danzil's lime green eyes met his. He saw both agreement and a cool resentment in his eyes.

"Tom, Mike, escort our...'guest' to the brig, and continue to question her..."

Chakotay could feel Kathryn's eyes burn into the back of his head. A mixture of emotions radiated from Voyager's former CO.

"...We still need to determine exactly who she is...Let's do it."


	16. Chapter 16

A short time later Harry and Chakotay were one again staring out at the  _Tescheg_  array. For a moment Chakotay allowed his mind to drift back to his first encounter with one of these truly alien constructs. At times he cursed the day he'd looked out of the  _Liberty_ 's front viewport, expecting to see the honey-hued vortexes of the badlands, only to see that ominous, pulsing array.

But then he had to remember the friends he'd made – Tom, Harry, Neelix, the Doctor. Even Neelix and Tuvok.

And of course, he'd met Kathryn. At first he'd only agreed to become her first officer out of obligation – not to her, but to his crew. He had to look after their interests, and he could only do that from a position of authority. He'd quickly become interested in the Captain as a person. What made her tick? What had brought her to Voyager's bridge? She was neither male nor middle-aged like most other 'fleet Captains, and that fact piqued his curiosity. As he began to get to know her, he'd become fascinated by her. He'd watch her when she wasn't looking, and try to figure out what was going on behind those often unreadable eyes of hers.

It had hit him like a sledgehammer when he'd realised he loved her. The move from fascination to obsession to love happened so quickly it had caught him off-guard. As such, it had only taken her a few weeks to find out how he felt, and truth be told, he had a sneaking suspicion she'd figured it out before he had.

Those seven years in the Delta Quadrant had seen them weather many storms. She'd been angry with him, both professionally and personally on many occasions. She hadn't voiced her feelings during any of his dalliances with passing aliens and she'd barely uttered a word of disapproval over his short-lived relationship with Seven. But he'd been able to tell by the sudden distance between them that she was upset. And for years that was the only reassurance he had that she was at all interested in him.

In reverse, Chakotay had tried to support her in every way, even in relationships (even when she got together with Michael, which he had to admit, had unsettled and miffed him more than a little), only ever getting upset when she got together with Jaffen because she wasn't in her right mind.

They'd become closer after Voyager's return home. She'd been his rock during the inquest following the Loran II incident. When he'd been reinstated as Voyager's Captain, she'd been the first person he'd sought out, enveloping her in a long hug the second they were away from the Admiralty and the media. They'd both gotten pretty emotional, but some things remained unsaid.

And that had been his biggest regret when she'd been killed by the Remans just a few weeks later.

"...Are you listening?!" Harry's irritated voice brought Chakotay back to the present.

Chakotay blinked and turned his attention to the pilot's console.

"We've got a lock on the computer core," he said without inflection.

"Well that was quick sir," Harry quipped.

Chakotay smirked a little. He and Harry had grown a lot closer and had developed a true friendship following Voyager's return home. Harry was not beyond taking Chakotay down a peg or two when the need arose.

"...Well?" Harry said.

Like now, when his mind was elsewhere.

"Sorry Harry...Can we transport from this distance?"

"No sir. We had to get closer by 100,000 kilometres."

" _Vorik to Chakotay. We are at the array. There are no signs of the Sentinels."_

"That's the first piece of good news all day. We've located the computer core and are moving in to retrieve it."

" _Yes Sir. Vorik out."_

"Chakotay to Danzil. Follow us in."

" _Acknowledged."_

* * *

Back onboard Voyager, Miral Paris had broken into her toy chest and was delighting on pulling every toy out onto the floor. Miral was taking advantage of B'Elanna, whose mind was a million miles away. All day B'Elanna had been to-ing and fro-ing from their quarters, leaving her in the care of Astall, and then Sekaya, all the while saying that she was going to see Auntie Kathryn.

Miral couldn't really remember having an Auntie Kathryn,but she had seen pictures of her.

Miral finally pulled out a toy 'Space Bee' from the chest and left the rest of the toys scattered on the floor. She climbed onto her bed and sat back on the window sill, turning on the holographic show the Space Bee contained.

As a soft melody played out accompanying a slideshow of federation ships Miral felt a presence in the room along with her.

* * *

"We've got the core," Harry grinned as his console beeped.

" _Vorik to Chakotay. We are in transporter range of the remainder of our quantum torpedoes...Initiating transport...We have the torpedoes."_

Chakotay nodded, opening communications to both flyers "Vorik, Lyssa, Danzil...good work."

He closed off communications and turned to Harry.

"That was too easy."

* * *

"Something's not right here," Lyssa shook her head.

"I am inclined to agree with you," Vorik said.

"Really? I thought Vulcans didn't have gut instincts."

Vorik keyed in Voyager's co-ordinates, "You are correct. However logic dictates that we should have encountered resistance from the array, given our previous engagement with the Sentinels."

* * *

Harry's console beeped. "Uh-oh..."

"Uh-oh?"

"We've got company."

Chakotay looked of the front viewport, the  _Tescheg_ array eerily looking like it's Delta Quadrant counterpart as dozens of Sentinels swooped into view.

"Chakotay to Vorik and Danzil...return to Voyager, now."

Vorik and Lyssa's flyer was first to leave, followed by Danzil's ship, but as Chakotay keyed in the co-ordinates, the Sentinel's glow died down, and Chakotay found his ship unable to move. The sentinels swarmed around them, moving as one, blocking off every avenue of escape.

"Engines unresponsive," Chakotay stated the obvious.

"Weapons are offline."

The Sentinels surrounding the flyer remained darkened, obviously emitting a dampening field to immobilise the ship. A moment later, one emerged from the swarm, glowing red. Chakotay and Harry felt the sickening, burning pain they'd felt earlier return as the unknown weapon began to literally cook them alive.

* * *

Miral became silent, looking for someone to explain why she felt like she was being watched. She moved from her seat and climbed down from her bed, and walked quietly and deliberately towards the bathroom door.

Reaching the other side of the room, she turned round and let out of a sharp cry...

Harry clutched at his sides as he succumbed to the pain and passed out, blood flowing from his ears and nose. Chakotay felt the pain of his eardrums rupture as he tasted blood in his mouth.

He tried desperately to reach the self-destruct, when the pain began to subside...

* * *

Miral's voice failed her, and her call for help had seemingly gone unheard by B'Elanna in the next room.

Standing next to Miral's bed was a tall, slender, ghostly figure of a woman with a piercing gaze. Miral felt like this woman could stare right through her.

The woman moved closer, gesturing with one finger for Miral to remain silent. Her skin was pale and fragile and her hair was platinum blonde. Her eyes resembled those of a cat, with a pink hue and an unreadable expression. She was now within easy reach of Miral and she bent down to examine the girl further, grabbing her by the chin. For the first time since their eyes made contact, the alien looked away, before looking back at Miral, a dangerous smile on her face. The woman leaned forward whispering in her ear.

"You don't realise what you have just done for your crew, child."

The woman got up and walked back to the corner she appeared in.

"I was never here..."

With that, the woman seemed to fade away, and Miral's shock and terror gave way to tears and cries for her mother.

* * *

A moment after the pain stopped, the red sentinel and all of the darkened sentinels began to retreat back to the array.

Chakotay took a gasp of air, choking on the blood and saliva in his throat. He couldn't help it, and had to spit it out.

" _Vorik to Chakotay. Are you alright Sir?"_

Chakotay looked over to Harry who was still out cold. He hadn't heard Vorik but had noticed his comm panel light up and assumed he was asking how they were.

"I'm not sure...We need to get Harry to sickbay."

* * *

"Miral honey, are you okay?" B'Elanna rushed in as she heard Miral's sobs.

"The lady looked like a ghost...she grabbed me and I was so scared and..."

"Oh sweetie, it was just a bad dream...come here," B'Elanna said as she embraced her daughter.

Miral knew she hadn't been dreaming, but for now all she wanted was her mother's love and attention, so she simply hugged her in return.

* * *

The away teams were debriefing in sickbay as Chakotay and Harry were being treated.

"You're both very lucky," Tom said as he finished repairing Harry's eardrum. "If you'd been exposed to that weapon any longer, your internal organs would have liquefied."

Harry shuddered at the thought. "That was the most horrid, unsettling sensation, that weapon. And agonizing to boot."

Chakotay nodded, agreeing but still thinking things over.

Kathryn who was behind the forcefield at the main biobed seemed to read Chakotay's thoughts.

"What made the sentinels behave the way they did out there...It was if they were hesitating, or even thinking about what to do with you. Normally they do their job and retreat to the array. No hesitation, no change in behaviour."

Danzil nodded in agreement, "And that tactic...that was one we've never seen before. They would still have used their typical volleys, even if they'd not been successful in the past. For them to act in such way..."

"Regardless of their behaviour," Harry interjected, "we managed to get all of our components back, with no casualties. I suggest we lay in a course away from that array."

"Agreed." Said Lyssa. "They overpowered our defenses once, they might be able to do it again."

"We can help you plot the safest course through this area," said Danzil.

Chakotay nodded, "That would be helpful, though I'm afraid I must admit I'm at a loss as to where to take our ship. Home's on the other side of the galactic rift. We can't go back."

"My advice would be to stay close to the Kabai," Kathryn said.

"We'll take that under advisement – once we know exactly who you are."

"Chakotay-"

"-For all we know, you've been fooling the Kabai as well...You're going to be detained on this ship until we know who you really are."

Danzil sighed, staring at the ground, "I must let you know I object to this course of action, but in the interests of building good relations between our peoples...I will let you keep Qatala onboard Voyager on the proviso that she is returned to us to complete her worker's contract once her identity is verified. Failure to release Qatala once you've conducted your tests will be seen as an act of aggression."

Danzil's eyes met Chakotay's, and Chakotay nodded again.

"Agreed."

Danzil looked around Voyager's senior staff. He had high hopes for building an alliance with these people, but he didn't trust Chakotay, and found the older man's lack of trust to be disconcerting. He didn't seem to take people at face value, and despite the highly dangerous life Danzil led, he still liked to take people at their word.

"If there's nothing more, I'll return to my people. We will be in touch within half an econ."

Danzil turned to leave sickbay, flanked by Harry and Lyssa.

Once Harry and Lyssa were gone, Chakotay turned to Tom and Vorik.

"Give me a minute here."

"Okay," Tom said, glancing at Kathryn.

Dutifully, he and Vorik filed out of sickbay, leaving Chakotay alone with Kathryn.

Kathryn stared back at him, her expression almost wholly unreadable if it weren't for the hurt in them. Chakotay wouldn't let his feelings interfere, and returned her gaze with a cold stare.

"We'll repeat the tests we did earlier, and guards will be stationed here twenty four hours a day. I've had the access codes changed, and secondary locking mechanisms installed in all Jeffries tubes and lockers. You're not going to give my crew the slip again."

"Fine," Kathryn responded curtly, "but your going to feel awful when you finally realise that it's me, Chakotay."

"Maybe...but the woman I knew died a year ago...I remember the disbelief and the panic I felt when I heard she was gone...the sickening pain of grief, the anguish when what had happened began to sink in...I stood at her grave after the funeral and..." he stopped for a moment, "and you being here, pretending to be her, it's brought it all back when I was finally beginning to...not get over it...but starting to move on with my life again.

"I don't know why you're doing this...whether or not you're getting a kick out of hurting all the people on this ship that cared about Kathryn...but I  _will_ find out who and what you really are...I don't think a Q kicking us halfway across the Local Group and us running into you is just a coincidence...I think you know what's going on here, and I won't rest until I've got my crew home."

Chakotay glared Kathryn, but she didn't flinch, opting to give him a passive stare instead.

"Believe what you want to believe Chakotay...but the facts will speak for themselves."

Chakotay's expression grew angrier, and after a moment he turned and marched out of sickbay.

Kathryn looked to the ground, and bit her bottom lip in an attempt to contain the tears she knew were threatening to escape.

This was going to be tougher than she thought...

**To be Continued...**


End file.
